--- description: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tore a copy of President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech in half as he wrapped up his address. title: Nancy Pelosi Ripped Up a Copy of Trump's State of the Union Address image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bf0956438a724b9/698a09cd929fad3a62bf5a76/pelosi-tear.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Congress](/tag/congress/) ## Congress Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Nancy Pelosi Ripped Up a Copy of Trump's State of the Union Address  by [Sanya Mansoor](/author/sanya-mansoor/)  ## Sanya Mansoor Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 7:40 PM CUTPublished: Feb 5, 2020 4:08 AM CUT  US Vice President Mike Pence claps as Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi appears to rip a copy of US President Donald Trumps speech after he delivers the State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2020. US Vice President Mike Pence claps as Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi appears to rip a copy of US President Donald Trumps speech after he delivers the State of the Union address at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2020.Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images  by [Sanya Mansoor](/author/sanya-mansoor/)  ## Sanya Mansoor Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 12, 2023 7:40 PM CUTPublished: Feb 5, 2020 4:08 AM CUT As President Donald Trump finished his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was seen ripping up a copy of the President’s speech. > [](https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1224897851303628801) Asked immediately after Trump’s speech why she tore up the transcript, Pelosi told reporters: “Because it was the courteous thing to do,” adding that it was “the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.” It isn’t clear what she meant by an “alternative.” > [](https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/1224900230442815489) > [](https://twitter.com/marykbruce/status/1224900781771513856) Pelosi later called Trump’s speech a “manifesto of mistruths.” The White House responded quickly, accusing Pelosi of disrespecting the Americans that Trump had praised during his State of the Union address. > [](https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1224902083209502721) Pelosi and Trump have long had an awkward relationship; tensions only rose after Pelosi came to embrace the idea of impeaching Trump. Earlier in the evening, Trump appeared to [dodge an attempted handshake](https://time.com/5777999/nancy-pelosi-handshake-trump/ "undefined") from the House Speaker. At the end of last year’s State of the Union, [Pelosi’s clap](https://time.com/5523474/nancy-pelosi-thinking-clapback/ "undefined") and pursed lips led to widespread speculation about whether her applause was sarcastic. She later said that her actions were in support of Trump’s call for bipartisan cooperation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5778099/pelosi-trump-speech-rip/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5778099/pelosi-trump-speech-rip/"},"headline":"Nancy Pelosi Ripped Up a Copy of Trump's State of the Union Address","datePublished":"2020-02-05T04:08:36.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T19:40:54.000Z","description":"The White House accused Pelosi of disrespecting the Americans Trump praised","url":"https://time.com/5778099/pelosi-trump-speech-rip/","keywords":["Congress","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bf0956438a724b9/698a09cd929fad3a62bf5a76/pelosi-tear.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sanya Mansoor","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sanya-mansoor/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bf0956438a724b9/698a09cd929fad3a62bf5a76/pelosi-tear.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Nancy Pelosi","caption":"Nancy Pelosi","creditText":"Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5778099/pelosi-trump-speech-rip/","name":"Nancy Pelosi Ripped Up a Copy of Trump's State of the Union Address"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Nancy Pelosi Calls Trump’s State of the Union Address “A Manifesto of Mistruths”","description":"As President Donald Trump finished his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was seen ripping up a copy of the President’s speech.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/oIF4v9Ks/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2020-02-05T06:37:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oIF4v9Ks.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5778099/pelosi-trump-speech-rip/","duration":"PT28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5778099/pelosi-trump-speech-rip/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```