page_title: 2020 State of the Union Address
section_title: Address
hierarchical_section_title: 2020 State of the Union Address / Address
caption_attribution_description: President Donald J. Trump delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian)
context_page_description: The 2020 State of the Union Address was given by the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, on Tuesday, February 4, 2020, at 9 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 116th United States Congress. It was Trump's third State of the Union Address and his fourth speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, accompanied by Mike Pence, the vice president of the United States.
  The speech was the second State of the Union Address to be delivered by an impeached president, as the 1999 address by Bill Clinton was delivered during his impeachment trial. The address was aired on 12 television networks and was watched by 37.2 million viewers, not including views from online live streams. Overall viewership for the address was 20% lower than 2019. As Trump was concluding the state of the union address, Nancy Pelosi stood and ripped up her copy of the speech as a form of protest.
context_section_description: The State of the Union Address began at 9:00 p.m. EST and was televised and streamed by all major U.S. broadcast and cable television networks. The date for the address fell one day after the Iowa caucuses in the 2020 presidential election, and one day before the Senate vote on whether or not to convict Trump in his impeachment trial. As Trump entered the chamber, he appeared to snub  Pelosi's offer of a handshake. Breaking with tradition, Pelosi omitted the line "I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you" before introducing the president. Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt was named the designated survivor and was at an undisclosed location during the address so that, in case of a catastrophe, the continuity of government would be upheld.
  The address lasted a total of 78 minutes; approximately 26 minutes of the address was consumed by audience applause, primarily from Republican lawmakers. Republican lawmakers in the audience shouted "four more years" as Trump entered the chamber. The address, heralded by Trump as "the great American comeback", primarily focused on national security, the economy, health care, and foreign policy while avoiding topics such as environmental policy and climate change, the Mueller investigation, and his impeachment trial, which was expected to conclude the next day. Various media outlets reported that Trump made false or misleading claims during his address.
  Among Trump's comments, he addressed the emerging COVID-19 pandemic: "We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China.  My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat."
caption: Republican members of Congress stand for applause during the address
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