Democratic resistance to President Trump will come in all shapes and sizes at next week's State of the Union address.

Why it matters: State of the Unions are more defined by surprise moments than scripted theater.

• Think the ripped speech (Pelosi after Trump finished), the snap negotiation (Biden and Republicans) or an indelible phrase (Bush 43's "Axis of Evil").
• For Democrats this year, the strategies differ, but the goal is the same: Challenge Trump.

That resistance is splitting into three main categories:

• 📺 Counterprogramming: A dozen Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), will host an event during the speech Tuesday night. It'll be streamed by MeidasTouch, a progressive media company considered a safe space for Democratic politicians.
• 🎟 Going, with some eyeing protests: Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) told us last week he plans to attend the speech and that he would "love to show some resistance to what is going on." Most Democrats disagree on his approach.
• 👀 Boycotting altogether: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told us she's "probably not" going. This list will grow ahead of the speech.

🤐 For those who do go, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has urged his caucus to avoid floor disruptions during the speech.

• "He's coming to our house. It's my view that you don't let anyone ever run you off of your block," Jeffries told Fox News today.
• "It's a somber moment in our country ... and so I don't expect anybody to do anything that takes away from the importance of that moment," Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) told us last week.
• Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was censured last year after getting booted from the chamber for repeatedly interrupting Trump's joint address to Congress.

The bottom line: "These aren't normal times, and we have to stop doing normal things," Murphy told the N.Y. Times about why he's skipping the SOTU.

• Trump has "made a mockery of the State of the Union speech, and he doesn't deserve an audience," Murphy said.

— Justin Green, Andrew Solender and Hans Nichols

Jeffries went public today with his pressure campaign urging Democratic state legislators to vote on a new congressional map.

• Why it matters: Jeffries doesn't usually put himself in such public conflict with fellow Democrats, but he'll need every advantage he can get in his quest to become speaker in 2027.

🦀 Driving the news: Jeffries met today with Maryland state Senate President Bill Ferguson in Annapolis to discuss a proposed map that would draw out Rep. Andy Harris, the state's last remaining House Republican.

• Ferguson has resisted calls from Jeffries and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) to let state senators vote on the map, which was approved this month by the state's House of Delegates.
• Following the meeting, Jeffries said in a statement that Ferguson "authentically believes that the votes don't exist in the State Senate to move forward."
• "The only way to find out is to allow an immediate up-or-down vote on the Senate floor with respect to the new congressional map passed by the House of Delegates," he added.

The other side: "It's precisely because we want Leader Jeffries in the majority that most members in the Maryland Senate Democratic Caucus do not support moving forward with mid-cycle redistricting," Ferguson said in a statement.

• The state Senate president warned that the proposal will "backfire in our State courts and lose Democrats in Congress."

✍️ The bottom line: Jeffries was successful in pressing Democratic legislators to draw new maps in California and Virginia that could collectively net Democrats as many as nine seats.

• But he has faced resistance elsewhere, with Democrats in New York and Illinois declining to attempt mid-decade redraws — though a New York judge's ruling may still help Democrats pick up one seat.

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— Andrew Solender

Four Democratic U.S. senators made an unannounced trip to Odesa, Ukraine, marking the first congressional visit to the Black Sea port since the war began nearly four years ago.

Why it matters: Led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the lawmakers used the trip to get on-the-ground briefings on the war and call for Congress to pass new sanctions on Russia.

• "It is long past due for President Trump to tighten sanctions on Russia, provide security assistance for Ukraine and exert real pressure on Russia," Shaheen said in a statement. "If the president refuses to act, Congress must."
• "One of the things we heard wherever we stopped today was that the people of Ukraine want a peace deal," Shaheen told reporters on a call from Ukraine. "But they want a peace deal that preserves their sovereignty, that recognizes the importance of Ukraine's territorial integrity."

Driving the news: Shaheen, along with Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) traveled to Ukraine after the Munich Security Conference.

• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) was scheduled to join them but didn't make the one-day trip to Ukraine.
• The senators have since left the country and are now in Moldova.

Zoom out: Two days of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia ended in Geneva today without concrete progress toward ending the war.

• Ahead of the negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios that the Ukrainian people would reject a peace deal requiring Ukraine to unilaterally withdraw from the eastern Donbas region and turn it over to Russia.
• Zelensky entered the talks more pessimistic than U.S. negotiators and left in a similar mood — accusing Russia of trying to stall.

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— Hans Nichols