Image source, Reuters

We're wrapping up our live coverage of Joe Biden's State of the Union tonight, plus the Republican response. There's plenty for more you to read though:

• To read our North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's analysis of Biden's speech, look here
• To learn more about the upcoming US presidential election, please read our guide here
• We also have a piece on the state of the US economy and whether - or not - it will help President Biden at the polls. Have a look here

This live page has been brought to you by Sam Cabral on Capitol Hill, North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher, as well as Holly Honderich and Bernd Debusmann Jr at our bureau in Washington DC. It was edited by Emily McGarvey, Lisa Lambert, Gareth Evans and Jude Sheerin.

Image source, Reuters

We're going to be ending our live coverage shortly, and we've had a very busy evening here in Washington DC, where Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address at the US Capitol.

• In a fiery and sometimes combative speech, Biden touched on a range of issues including Ukraine and Nato, the economy, abortion rights and the US-Mexico border
• Biden repeatedly took aim at Donald Trump, blaming him for the collapse of bipartisan border security legislation and condemning recent comments on Russia and Vladimir Putin
• On the economy, Biden touted his accomplishments and claimed his administration was "building a future of American possibilities"
• On abortion, Biden said that if he returned to the White House he will work to restore abortion rights nationwide, but acknowledged it would take a lot of cooperation from Congress
• In the Republican rebuttal, Alabama Senator Katie Britt criticised Biden's speech, pointing to the "crisis" at the border, rising crime in US communities and a perception of falling US standing overseas

Former Florida Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy says the president had "the right delivery, and the right message to consolidate the Democratic base and to convince some independents who were wondering whether he had the energy to take on Trump".

Jennifer Welch, a former National Security Council official for the White House under Biden, says that Biden and Trump are both taking tough approaches to China.

She says both men vary widely as far as their "tone" goes, but their "moves and actions" against China "are actually quite comparable".

Oklahoma Republican Stephanie Bice says Biden did not deliver a State of the Union. "This was actually a campaign speech," she says.

She goes on to call Biden's remarks "disjointed".

"He sort of went all over his place with his message and didn't actually address the things Americans actually want to hear about," she says.

Sam Cabral
Reporting from Capitol Hill

One of the big news-making moments in Joe Biden’s speech tonight was his announcement that the US is manoeuvring around Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and setting up a dock to provide more humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

Michael Waltz, a top House Republican who sits on the armed services and intelligence committees, is deeply sceptical of the move.

“I don’t know how you do that in a warzone run by a terrorist organisation,” he tells a gaggle of reporters. “How do you do that with no boots on the ground?”

Waltz’s guest tonight was Paula Knauss Selph, who lost her son in the attack at Kabul Airport during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Waltz sees the "debacle" in Afghanistan as the starting point of a "tumble" for the Biden administration.

“To say that democracy is under assault - it started in Afghanistan,” says Waltz. “Our enemies got the message that America is weak and this commander-in-chief is weak."

Helena Humphrey
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, EPA

It felt very much like a campaign speech.

It was a blistering speech.

You could hear a pin drop in the hallway outside, where I was watching with other members of the media. People really wanted to hear what Biden had to say.

He spoke in a raised voice throughout the entire speech and focused on the theme that "history is watching".

To make this point he mentioned the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza.

He rejected Trump's political narrative, saying that some of his opponents want to spread resentment in the US.

"They want to spread hate, but they will find no harbour in this country," he said, laying down the gauntlet for a rematch of the 2020 presidential election.

The fact-checkers at the BBC’s US partner CBS News rate a Biden remark during his abortion segment as false.

The president said: "Many of you in this chamber – and my predecessor – are promising to pass a national ban on reproductive freedom. My God – what freedom else would you take away?"

According to CBS, Trump has not promised to pass a national abortion ban despite the New York Times reporting that he has privately expressed support for a 15-week federal ban.

Trump has been reticent on his abortion stance, but in January he said he would support exceptions and in a town hall last week with Fox News he said: “More and more I'm hearing about 15 weeks, and I haven't decided yet."

He also has said that overturning Roe v Wade returned the power to decide abortion policy to the states, "where it belongs".

Harsh words for Israel in Biden's speechpublished at 04:50 Greenwich Mean Time 8 March

04:50 GMT 8 March

Tom Bateman
State Department Correspondent

As he moved on to the war in Gaza, Biden had some harsh words for Israel over the thousands of civilians killed there.

To applause in the chamber, he said Israel had a “fundamental responsibility” to protect innocent civilians, adding that humanitarian assistance could not be a “secondary consideration or a bargaining chip”.

Biden is a long-standing pro-Israel Democrat but knows parts of his party’s base have shifted significantly in recent years, with many younger Democrats in particular now likely to sympathise with Palestinians. They challenge what they see as unconditional US military support for Israel.

As we reported earlier, Biden announced the US military would build an “emergency” seaport off the Gaza coast to flood more aid in - although many questions remain over how this will work and the length of time it will take.

He reiterated his condemnation of Hamas and called for the group to release the hostages it still holds in Gaza, some of whose relatives were watching in the chamber.

Biden would have wanted to have been able to confirm a ceasefire-for-hostage release deal by tonight, but the fact that the latest phase of the talks are stalled in Cairo shows how so much of the crisis is beyond his control.

Sam Cabral
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Indiana Congresswoman Victoria Spartz was not among fans of Biden's speech tonight.

“It was really hard to follow the president,” the Republican, who frequently criticizes Biden, tells me. “And maybe that’s a good thing because if we had really understood everything he had to say, I guess it would be real funny - or maybe we should cry about that.”

Slamming the speech as “very political”, she says it could be boiled down to “if you vote for Biden, you get a puppy, a unicorn and a pot of gold. I think he’s either completely lost connection to reality or somebody else wrote him a speech just to get by”.

So did she agree with anything in the speech?

The part where he said “God bless America”, she replies.

Delaware Senator Chris Coons, a close Democratic ally of Biden, rejects arguments that the president was too political with his speech, as some Republicans have said.

"In terms of being divisive, many of his predecessors' state of the union speeches were far more divisive," he tells BBC News, adding that Biden was simply making his case for re-election.

"He closed the speech talking about his unity vision," he says.

Coons, who just returned from a campaign trip to Michigan last week on behalf of the Biden campaign, said that tonight Biden displayed "energy, hopefulness, and positivity".

In a post on his Truth Social media platform, Donald Trump says the State of the Union contained "tremendous misrepresentation and lies".

"But the people of our country get it," he adds. "They know that November 5th will be the most important day in our nation's history."

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US reporter

We've now also heard the Spanish-language Republican response from Monica De La Cruz, a Texas representative whose district spans from San Antonio's suburbs to the border.

In a five-minute long response posted online, De La Cruz says Biden "does not understand" US Latinos.

"President Biden tried to say everything is perfect, but we know that's not true," she adds.

De La Cruz also points to the "disaster" at the border, arguing that crime and drugs crossing the border has impacted US communities.

"Hispanics come to this country looking for security and liberty, and we're worried that Biden is so weak with our enemies," she says.

Notably, De La Cruz's remarks show that the border is an issue that the Republican Party thinks can be a winner, including in heavily Latino communities on the US-Mexico border.

Speaking to the BBC tonight, De La Cruz says that Biden is "disconnected" with everyday Americans.

"Especially with Hispanics in my district that live along the border."

Britt wrapped up her remarks on a note of optimism.

"We the people are still in the driver's seat," she said.

"We get to decide whether our future will grow brighter or whether we'll settle for an America in decline."

Britt added that the Republican Party wants to give Americans "the opportunities to thrive".

"The task in front of us isn't an easy one," she said.

"Get into the arena. Every generation has been called on to do hard things... we always answer that call."

"Despite the current state of our union, our best days are still ahead."

Katie Britt also promised in her remarks to protect IVF.

"We want families to grow. It's why we strongly support continued nationwide access to in-vitro fertilisation," she says.

"We want to help loving moms and dads bring precious life into this world."

IVF has been in the news ever since the top court in Alabama - Britt's home state - ruled last month that embryos had the same rights as children, throwing the state's fertility treatment into potential legal limbo.

Since then, many Republicans have rushed to defend the procedure. Yesterday, Alabama lawmakers passed a bill to protect IVF in the state, and at least two fertility clinics that paused services now say they expect to resume them.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter

Katie Britt characterises Biden as being too old to govern and "out of pace" with Americans.

"Right now, our Commander in Chief is not in command," the Republican said.

"The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader."

The age of Biden, 81, is a frequent talking point among Republicans, including Donald Trump.

In her rebuttal, Britt also takes aim at "Bidenomics", citing the inflation that has dogged his tenure.

"It's been a minute since Joe Biden pumped gas," she added.

She also hit back at Biden's claims that he's been effective at combating crime in US cities, noting that "our communities aren't safer".

"Biden's weakness isn't just hurting families at home," she added.

"He's making us a punchline on the world stage."

As an example, she pointed to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"We've become a nation in retreat," she said.

"And the enemies of freedom, they see an opportunity."

Katie Britt continues on the theme of immigration, raising last month's murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, in Georgia.

The man accused of her murder is an immigrant who entered the US illegally in 2022.

Britt, 42, ties this murder to Joe Biden's border policies, blaming him for choosing to release Laken's killer "into our homeland".

"As a mom, I can't quit thinking about this," she says.

"Mr President, enough is enough."

Image source, CBS

Image source, Pool

In her remarks, Britt has taken aim at Biden's handling of the border.

"Our families are hurting," she says. "Our country can do better."

Britt says the crisis at the border is "almost entirely preventable".

She appears emotional as she tells a graphic story about a woman who was trafficked and raped by cartel members.

"It's past time we start acting," she added. "Biden's border policies are a disgrace."

Katie Britt, a US senator from Alabama, is delivering the Republican rebuttal from the kitchen table of her home in Montgomery, where, she says, she and her family have tough conversations.

She says her fellow citizens need to have a "tough conversation" about the nation's future.

"Right now the American Dream has turned into an American nightmare for so many families," she says.

Calling Biden "out of touch", Britt says families are now worse off under his administration.

"My husband and I watched, we saw the performance of a permanent politician who has been in office who has been longer than I've been alive."

Matt Murphy
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Delivering the rebuttal now on behalf of Republicans is Alabama Senator Katie Britt.

It gives Britt the chance to elevate her profile among Senate colleagues to the national stage.

Some, including former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have framed her rebuttal as an audition for a spot on Trump's list of candidates for the vice-presidency.

But Britt and the former president may not seem like natural allies, despite his endorsement of her Senate campaign in 2022.

She was the last member of Alabama's congressional delegation to endorse the 77-year-old in December.

And observers say her political views have been more moderate than Trump's.

More on Britt here.

Biden continues working his way through a crowd of Democratic well-wishers.

One, New York Congressman Larry Nadler, has a particularly pointed compliment for the president: "No one's going to talk about cognitive impairment now!"