--- title: Donald Trump's 2019 State of the Union Address: Transcript description: President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. Read the transcript of his speech. canonical: https://time.com/5521860/2019-state-of-the-union-trump-transcript/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-06T04:44:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:41:22.233Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read the Full Transcript of President Trump's State of the Union Address og:description: President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. Read the transcript of his speech. og:url: https://time.com/5521860/2019-state-of-the-union-trump-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fa890ee68f9fba2/6989449e7cdbac6a09d5f019/trump-state-of-the-union.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump Delivers State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Full Transcript of President Trump's State of the Union Address twitter:description: President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. Read the transcript of his speech. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fa890ee68f9fba2/6989449e7cdbac6a09d5f019/trump-state-of-the-union.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Full Transcript of President Trump's State of the Union Address > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Feb 6, 2019 4:44 AM UTC  President Donald Trump, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence looking on, delivers the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on Feb. 5, 2019 in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence looking on, delivers the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on Feb. 5, 2019 in Washington, D.C. Pool—Getty Images  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Feb 6, 2019 4:44 AM UTC President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. The address was originally rescheduled for Jan. 29, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked Trump to reschedule it in light of the partial government shutdown. The government reopened on [Jan. 25](http://time.com/5513459/donald-trump-nancy-pelosi-shutdown-congress/) after Congress agreed to a 3-week funding stopgap, but the government could come to a halt again on [Feb. 15](http://time.com/5514633/congress-shutdown-negotiations-border-wall/) if Congress is unable to reach a compromise on a Homeland Security funding bill. During the speech, which lasted approximately an hour, Trump touched on many of his many favorite topics, including the dangers of illegal immigration and the strength of the economy. Trump made several digressions from the written transcript that shifted the meaning of what he said. For instance, while in the prepared speech Trump was supposed to say, “Legal immigrants enrich our nation in countless ways. I want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally,” he actually said, “Legal immigrants enrich our nation in countless ways. I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally.” The [guests invited by the President and Congressional Democrats](http://time.com/5521320/state-of-the-union-guests-white-house-democrats/) reflected the deep divisions in American politics. Trump’s guests included three family members of a Reno, Nevada couple allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant, whereas Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley invited Albertina and Yaquelin Contreras, a mother and daughter who were separated for nearly six weeks by U.S. immigration authorities, and were later featured on TIME’s[ Feb. 4 cover](http://time.com/5521397/state-union-jeff-merkley-guests/). Trump’s speech was followed by a Democratic response by[ Stacey Abrams](http://time.com/5349541/stacey-abrams-georgia/), who narrowly lost the Georgia gubernatorial race this fall but is considered to be a rising Democratic political star. 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