the.com/state of the union

means An annual address in which a head of state reports on the country's condition and lays out a legislative agenda for the year ahead.

from Rooted in a constitutional requirement that the president 'from time to time give to Congress Information of the State of the Union' — a clause that's been there since the founding document itself, though early presidents mostly sent it as a written report. It grew into the televised spoken ritual (with the clapping and the sitting-and-standing ovations) mainly in the 20th century, as radio and then TV made the address a performance as much as a report.