How To Tune In To Trump’s Oval Office Speech — Even If It’s Not Aired On Every Network

On 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, President Donald Trump will address the nation in his first-ever speech from the Oval Office as president. But not all news networks have confirmed that they will air the president's speech. So, here's how to watch Trump's Oval Office address if you're flipping through the channels and can't find it on every network.

Initially, only Fox News, Fox Business, and CNN had confirmed that they would air the president's address, according to The Hill. However, on Monday evening, CBS News correspondent Paula Reid tweeted that her network would also air the speech. Later on Monday, CNN's Brian Stelter and Oliver Darcy reported that ABC and NBC also confirmed that they will broadcast Trump's address.

If you don't have a TV or cable news at home, don't fret: It's also possible that news outlets will stream the speech online on their social media accounts, so keep an eye out for that.

The speech will come amid growing concerns and criticism about how thousands of federal employees are unable to pay for their most fundamental needs — health care, housing, and food — as the partial government shutdown goes on. According to NBC News, an estimated 800,000 government workers may not receive their paycheck until the end of January.

White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told the news network on Sunday, "If we don't have an agreement I think by midnight on [Jan. 8], which is Tuesday, then payroll will not go out as originally planned on Friday night."

The government shutdown is the result of a tumultuous budget impasse, which requires a fair bit of contextualizing. At the moment, Trump wants $5 billion to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico. The hypothetical border wall is actually one of Trump's presidential campaign promises, though he initially claimed that he would make Mexico pay for it.

Now, the president wants that amount in a federal budget which he would sign off on but Democrats have strongly opposed the idea. This budget standoff has subsequently led to a partial shutdown that began on Dec. 21 at midnight.

So far, Trump has shown little to no softening on his border wall position. In fact, in the first week of January, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told the White House press that Trump "said he would keep the government closed for a very long period of time — months or even years."

Later on, Trump confirmed Schumer's troublesome account in the White House's Rose Garden, saying, "Absolutely I said that. I don't think it will, but I'm prepared."

News networks' delayed reaction to Trump's announcement of an upcoming address points to a larger debate among media outlets about giving the president airtime. According to The New York Times, there is a financial component to the question, too. After all, the report noted that giving prime-time coverage to a subject is an expensive undertaking considering the millions of dollars spent on advertisements.

Still, it's a network's prerogative to air a president's speech (or not). As Stelter, CNN's chief media correspondent, tweeted on Monday, "The networks don't automatically say yes when a president asks for airtime."

This article has been updated.