The 2019 State of the Union Address was given by the 45th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, on February 5, 2019, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

to the

116th United States Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on Januar ...

. It was Trump's second State of the Union Address and his third speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the

House speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerfo ...

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

, accompanied by

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...

, the vice president, in his capacity as the

president of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

. It was the first address to a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives since 2010. The Democratic Response was given by 2018 Georgia Gubernatorial Nominee Stacey Abrams and the Spanish-language response was given by California Attorney General and former U.S. Representative

Xavier Becerra Xavier Becerra ( ; ; born January 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 25th United States secretary of health and human services since March 2021. Becerra previously served as the attorney general of California from Jan ...

. The Address was watched by 46.8 million viewers, and aired live on 12 major television networks. Viewership statistics do not include views from online

live streams Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but ...

. There were also 15.2 million interactions regarding the Address on social media.

Background

Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

states that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sent an invitation to President

on January 3, 2019, to deliver a "State of the Union address before a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 in the House Chamber." The invitation was sent just hours after her election to Speaker of the House. On January 6, President Trump commented to reporters that "I will be making the State of the Union on January 29. And I look forward to it. I look forward to it. And I look forward to speaking, really, before the world. We have a lot of great things to say." The Cabinet of Donald Trump, the heads of the 14 of 15 executive departments, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nine sitting

Supreme Court justices The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...

, and members of Congress were invited to attend. Fifteen guests chosen by

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Melania Trump were present in the gallery. Energy Secretary

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...

was not in attendance as he was named the

designated survivor In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is a named individual in the presidential line of succession, chosen to stay at an undisclosed secure location, away from events such as State of the Union addresses and pres ...

Postponement

Originally scheduled for January 29, House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, communicated on January 16 that pursuant to the month-long shutdown of the federal government, citing fears of security concerns regarding unpaid

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

members, the President could reschedule the Address or submit a written State of the Union to Congress.In Pelosi's January 16 letter, she wrote that in September 2018, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen had designated State of the Union Addresses as

National Special Security Event A National Special Security Event (NSSE) is an event of national or international significance deemed by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activity. These events have ...

(NSSEs) in 2018 to ensure adequate security for the events which requires weeks of preparation. Nielsen responded by saying DHS was "fully prepared" for the Address. Pelosi formally communicated on January 23 that a resolution authorizing the speech in the House chamber would not be considered until the shutdown had ended. Trump, who had earlier mulled giving the speech in an alternative location, announced he would wait to give the State of the Union Address after the end of the shutdown. The shutdown was suspended on January 25,The terms of ending the shutdown allow three weeks for Congress to negotiate and potentially pass a new funding bill. Failure to pass a bill by that deadline could result in another shutdown. and on January 28, Pelosi issued an invitation for Trump to deliver the Address in the Capitol Building on February 5, 2019. On the same day, Trump accepted Pelosi's proposed date.

Address

The State of the Union Address was given at 9:00 p.m. EST on February 5, 2019. President Trump began the address without an introduction from Speaker Pelosi, breaking with a SOTU custom. During the speech, Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sat behind Trump.

U.S. Secretary of Energy The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when Pr ...

was named the

and was at an undisclosed location during the address so that, in case of a catastrophe, the continuity of government would be upheld. The speech lasted 82 minutes, making it the third longest State of the Union Address. During the speech, Trump discussed bipartisanship, the economy,

job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...

s, unemployment, tax reform,

energy production Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...

, unity, the opioid crisis, prison reform, immigration, border security, the border wall, trade,

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

prescription drug A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescription medicine) is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a medical prescription to be dispensed. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription. The rea ...

s, HIV/AIDS, cancer,

family leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" a ...

, abortion,

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

, North Korea, Venezuela, the Middle East, ISIS, Afghanistan, Iran,

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, veterans, and opportunity. He also discussed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, socialism, and the War in Afghanistan. During the address, President Trump announced his next summit with North Korean leader

Kim Jong-un Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...

. The summit took place on February 27–28, 2019 in Vietnam. In his Address, Trump asserted that "The savage gang MS-13 now operates in at least 20 different American states and they almost all come through our southern border... Just yesterday, an MS-13 gang member was taken into custody for a fatal shooting on a subway platform in New York City. We are removing these gang members by the thousands, but until we secure our border, they are going to keep streaming right back in." '' The Washington Post'' fact checker found that MS-13 is active primarily in Los Angeles,

Long Island (New York) Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...

, and the Washington, D.C. metro area. ''The Washington Post'' also concluded that 1,332 illegal alien members of MS-13 were deported in fiscal year 2018.

Protests

2019 State of the Union (40042020903) (cropped)

A group of female Democratic members of Congress and their guests wore white (the color of the

women's suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...

) to bring notice to women's rights.

Steny Hoyer Steny Hamilton Hoyer (born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and attorney serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1981 and as House majority leader, House Majority Leader since 2019. A Democrat ...

also handed out white ribbons to males. Each member of Congress is allowed to bring one guest and several Democratic members of Congress brought various guests to send a message. Representative

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...

brought a sexual assault survivor, Pramila Jayapal brought a climate change scientist, and

Ilhan Omar Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (born October 4, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota ...

brought an undocumented immigrant threatened with deportation. Several Democratic members of congress boycotted Trump's speech in protest, including Earl Blumenauer,

Steve Cohen Steve, Steven or Stephen Cohen may refer to: Sportspeople * Stephan Cohen (born 1971), French pocket billiards player * Steve Cohen (gymnast) (born 1946), American Olympic gymnast *Steve Cohen (judoka) (born 1955), American judoka and Olympian *Ste ...

, John Lewis, and Hank Johnson.

Notable invitations

* Timothy Matson – Police officer with the

Pittsburgh Police Department The Pittsburgh Police (PBP), officially the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, is the largest law enforcement agency in Western Pennsylvania and the third largest in Pennsylvania. The modern force of salaried and professional officers was founded in ...

and a member of the

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

team that responded to the October 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting incident. One of several officers wounded during the attack, Matson was struck 7 times by gunfire during the exchange with Robert Gregory Bowers, the alleged perpetrator of the attack. *

Judah Samet Judah Samet (; February 5, 1938 – September 27, 2022) was a Hungarian-American businessman, speaker, and Holocaust survivor. At the age of six, he and his family were taken from Debrecen, Hungary, to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where ...

– Survivor of the Holocaust and the

Pittsburgh synagogue shooting The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting was an antisemitic terrorist attack which took place at the Tree of Life – Or L'Simcha Congregation synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The congregation, alo ...

that occurred at the

Tree of Life synagogue In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are u ...

where Samet has been a member for 54 years. During the address, Trump mentioned that "Today is Judah's 81st birthday" after which the chamber and attendees honored Mr. Samet by singing

Happy Birthday Happy Birthday may refer to: * "Happy Birthday", an expression of good will offered on a person's birthday Film, theatre and television * ''Happy Birthday'' (1998 film), a Russian drama by Larisa Sadilova * ''Happy Birthday'', a 2001 film featu ...

. * Buzz Aldrin – Retired USAF Colonel, Korean War veteran, astronaut on Gemini 12 and Apollo 11, second man to walk on the Moon. * Alice Marie Johnson – Charged with a mandatory

life sentence without parole Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

in connection to a nonviolent drug crime. President Trump granted Johnson clemency after learning about her story from Kim Kardashian. * Elvin Hernandez – A Special Agent with the Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations division. Hernandez has more than 18 years of federal law enforcement experience investigating

narcotic The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

s, gangs, and

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

. *Herman Zeitchik – At age 18, Herman Zeitchik was among the 4th Infantry Division soldiers who landed at Utah Beach early on the morning of June 6, 1944. Zeitchik helped liberate Paris, hold back the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

at the Battle of the Bulge, and free starving prisoners at the

Dachau Concentration Camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

. *Joseph Reilly – The night before American soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy, Reilly and the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

parachuted behind enemy lines. He and his fellow soldiers helped secure Utah Beach and the first foothold in America's liberation of Western Europe. Reilly also fought in

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

, Battle of the Bulge, and the battle of the Ruhr Pocket. *Irving Locker – American veteran Irving Locker landed at Utah Beach on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

with the 116th AAA gun battalion. He fought through five major battles of World War II, including the Battle of the Bulge, and later helped liberate a Holocaust concentration camp. *Joshua Kaufman – Kaufman endured the horrors of

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and survived the Dachau Concentration Camp, where he was saved by American soldiers which included Herman Zeitchik. By the end of the war, Joshua had lost most of his family. He left Europe for Israel in 1949 and joined the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

, fighting in several wars. *Matthew Charles – In 1996, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for selling

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...

and other related offenses. While in prison, Charles found God, completed more than 30 Bible studies, became a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

, taught GED classes, and mentored fellow inmates. On January 3, 2019, Charles was the first prisoner released as a result of the First Step Act.

Responses

On January 29, 2019, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that Stacey Abrams would deliver the Democratic response to 2019 State of the Union Address. California Attorney General

gave the Spanish-language response. The response by the Libertarian Party was given by Jeff Hewitt. Independent Senator

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

also gave a response to address.

Coverage

The State of the Union Address was televised on all the major U.S.

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

and cable television networks. Facebook and Twitter streamed the address online.

Viewership

Total cable and network viewers Broadcast news channels Network news channels

Reactions

Polls conducted by CBS gauged approval of speech, viewership, among other things. A poll by CBS found 76% of people approved of the speech. Another poll by CBS based on party identification found that 43% of Republicans, 24% of Democrats, and 30% of Independents watched the address. Another poll based on party identification found that 97% of Republicans, 30% of Democrats, and 82% of Independents approved the message of the speech. Polls conducted by CNN gauged approval of speech, policy approval, among other things. 59% of viewers approved the President's address. 71% of viewers thought that the President's policies were moving the country in the right direction; 76% on economy, 70% on trade and national security, 68% on immigration, and 65% on taxes.

Fundraising by Trump's 2020 campaign

A fundraising effort by Trump's 2020 campaign on the days leading to the address and on the day of the address raised $2.4 million from 76,000 donors. His campaign displayed names of donors on a live streaming broadcast of the event on Donald Trump's Facebook page. This is comparable to fundraising for Trump's 2020 campaign that occurred during the 2018 address that similarly included the display of names of donors on a streaming broadcast online.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

2019 State of the Union Address Website

whitehouse.gov whitehouse.gov (also simply known as wh.gov) is the official website of the White House and is managed by the Office of Digital Strategy. It was launched on July 29, 1994 by the Clinton administration. The content of the website is in the ...

Text of remarks as prepared for delivery via The White House's website

Text of remarks as delivered via The White House's website

Full text of Nancy Pelosi's invitation to President Trump

United States Senate
2019 State of the Union Address

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"State of the Union 2019" coverage from CBS News

"2019 State of the Union Address" coverage from NBC News

2019 State of the Union coverage from Associated Press

of the Union 2019" coverage from ''Politico''
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