President Biden's 2024 State of the Union address

President Joe Biden criticized former President Donald Trump's previous comments encouraging Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" to any NATO country that doesn't meet spending guidelines on defense.

Biden did not reference Trump by name, calling him as "my predecessor, a former Republican president."

In a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden said his message was simple:

"We will not walk away. We will not bow down," Biden said to a roar of applause. "I will not bow down."

President Joe Biden ramped up his calls for the United States to continue giving aid to Ukraine, saying that freedom and democracy are under attack "both and home and overseas."

He said the purpose of the State of the Union address is to “wake up the Congress and alert the American people” that democracy is at stake.

Biden said, “If anybody in this room thinks (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you he will not.”

The president reiterated that Ukraine is asking for military assistance and weapons to help fight back against Russia, not US personnel.

Opening his third State of the Union address as president, Joe Biden says the United States faces an "unprecedented moment."

Biden referenced a 1941 address to Congress given by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Adolf Hitler waged war across Europe.

Roosevelt told Congress the nation was "at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union."

Today, Biden said, "it's we who face an unprecedented moment in the history of the Union."

"What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack at both home and overseas," Biden said.

President Joe Biden showed off some vintage politicking while walking into the House Chamber on Thursday, glad-handing with members of both parties as he took his time to walk to the podium.

Biden, a smile on his face, shook hands with several members of Congress as he walked into the chamber. Some took the opportunity to lobby Biden on different issues, including Ukraine funding and immigration.

Biden accepted a pin from one of his loudest critics, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

In the first moments of his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden brought up the need for aid for Ukraine.

Biden has been calling on Congress to pass more military aid to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russia.

Last month, the Senate passed a $95.3 billion foreign aid bill, which includes $60 billion to support Ukraine. While it passed with bipartisan support in the Senate, House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he does not plan to bring the bill to the floor.

Ukraine has been facing renewed pressure across the eastern front in its war against Russia, compounded by ammunition and manpower shortages. The withdrawal from the key eastern town of Avdiivka in February marked the biggest gain for Moscow since it captured the city of Bakhmut last year.

Biden ripped lawmakers when the House took a two-week break in the middle of last month and said that a “failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten.”

“Now, as I said before, and I mean this in a literal sense, history is watching. History is watching the House of Representatives,” he added.

President Joe Biden accepted a pin with Laken Riley's name from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as he entered the House chamber to give his State of the Union address.

Greene, wearing a Trump hat, held the pin up to Biden as he passed by members of Congress on the way to the podium. The two appeared to exchange words after Biden grabbed the pin.

Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, was killed last month in Georgia, allegedly by an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant. Republicans in Congress are using her death to accuse Biden of being too lenient with his border policies.

Earlier in the day, Greene wouldn’t say if she would heckle Biden again this year during his State of the Union address.

“If he’s a liar, he should be called out,” she told CNN. “We’ll see how he talks tonight and then I’ll decide then.”

Greene told CNN she will be handing out buttons in honor of Riley — a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed while jogging in Georgia last month — to fellow Republican members for Thursday's speech.

The suspected killer's status as an undocumented Venezuelan migrant is being touted by several state and national GOP leaders to support their calls for tighter border security — though there is little evidence indicating a connection between immigration and crime.

Greene called on Biden to address the case tonight.

Remember: Republicans repeatedly heckled Biden during last year's State of the Union, including Greene, who yelled back at the president in response to comments on everything from fentanyl to entitlement cuts. The Georgia Republican has a history of making inflammatory and false remarks.

More background: The House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act, which requires the detention of any migrant who committed burglary or theft, on Thursday, with all GOP members in attendance and 37 Democrats supporting the bill.

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler eviscerated the measure on the House floor, accusing Republicans of "exploiting her death for a partisan stunt" and "throwing together legislation to target immigrants in an election year."

Correction: This post has been updated to reflect that Riley attended Augusta University.

CNN's Haley Talbot, Elizabeth Wolfe, Raja Razek and Holly Yan contributed reporting to this post.

President Joe Biden is now delivering his State of the Union address.

This could be the most consequential speech of his presidency, seeking to boast about his first term while also warning the country about what he views as a ruinous threat to its very existence.

The speech is expected to be heavy on economic populism, aides said, with calls for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy. He also plans to take a swipe at former President Donald Trump, vow to restore Roe and acknowledge his age, according to excerpts shared with CNN.

President Joe Biden has entered the House chamber where he will give his State of the Union address.

The president is shaking hands with lawmakers as he walks down the aisle. There is a lot of clapping and cheering.

As Biden reached the front of the chamber, some lawmakers started to chant "Four more years."

The post was updated with more details on Biden's entry to the chamber.

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona is this year's designated survivor.

About the designated survivor tradition: At least one member of the president’s Cabinet is selected to stay behind from the speech each year in case of emergency. The designated survivor goes to a distant, secure and undisclosed location outside Washington while everyone else gathers to listen to the President’s address in the Capitol.

The designated survivor must be eligible to be president, and if a higher-ranking successor survives a potential incident, that person would become president ahead of the designated survivor.

According to the National Constitution Center, the tradition of a designated survivor during the State of the Union speech began in the 1950s as a result of fears of a nuclear attack during the Cold War. But the federal government did not publicly name the designated survivor until 1981, when President Ronald Reagan’s Education Secretary Terrel Bell assumed the designation for an address to a joint session of Congress.