State of the Union: Nancy Pelosi Tries to Shake Donald Trump’s Hand, But He Snubs Her

It looks like President Donald Trump might have snubbed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at the beginning of tonight’s State of the Union speech. After Trump took the podium, he turned to both Vice President Mike Pence as well as Pelosi, both stationed behind him, as per tradition. While Pelosi extended her hand to Trump at one point, he didn’t reciprocate the gesture, as caught by CBS News.

As noted in the clip, it’s unclear if Trump simply didn’t see Pelosi’s gesture of courtesy, or if he purposefully ignored it, given she just led the House of Representatives in an impeachment vote against him back in December. While he was impeached by the House, almost completely along party lines, the hyper-partisan reality of things means it’s unlikely that 67 Senators will vote for his removal.

Although, portions of his Senate trial, which is currently underway, will air opposite of the annual speech.

The State of the Union, an annual tradition started by President Woodrow Wilson back in 1913, is where the president starts off the year by addressing both houses of Congress, reflect on their accomplishments while laying out new priorities for the future.

Depending on how the election goes in November, this could be Trump’s last State of the Union address as he begins the final year of his first term in the Oval Office.

This year’s State of the Union marks not only the second-ever delivered by an impeached President, the first being President Clinton in 1999. While Clinton didn’t mention a word of his impeachment 21 years ago, it’s unclear whether Trump will address it or not, given how frequently he’s been ranting about it on his Twitter account.

Trump’s speech also comes just one day after he was reported as the winner of the Republican Iowa caucus, scoring a whopping 97 percent of the vote. Illinois. Rep. Joe Walsh, a one-time Trump fanatic-turned-opponent, got 1.4 percent of the vote, while Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld got 1.2 percent. Back in the 2016 general election, Trump won the state with 51.15 percent of the votes over his competitor, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.