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President Trump at the 2020 State of the Union Address.
- President Trump's 2020 State of the Union address was a remarkable turnaround from his first speech laying out a country wracked by "carnage."
- He used the opportunity to tout the strength of the American economy, now entering its 11th year of expansion - thrusting it to the center of his 2020 reelection bid.
- Trump pointed to low unemployment and rising wages, but his economic record is more complicated.
- Here are four campaign pledges on jobs, debt, manufacturing, and GDP growth where Trump fell short.
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President Trump assumed office in 2017 with a remarkably grim view of the country's social and economic health. In his inaugural address, he invoked "rusted-out factories" scattered across the country "like tombstones," as well as people "trapped in poverty in our inner cities."
Three years later, the president ditched the dark imagery of "American carnage," and instead heralded "the great American comeback" and portrayed a country making renewed progress.
Trump delivered his third State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, arguing his administration revitalized the US economy in a brief timespan. In doing so, the president thrust the issue into the center of his 2020 re-election pitch.
"In just three short years, we have shattered the mentality of American decline, and we have rejected the downsizing of America's destiny," Trump said. "We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable a short time ago, and we are never going back!"
Time and time again, the president returned to his biggest strength among voters: the economy, which chugged along amid an impeachment proceeding that's likely to end with his acquittal in the GOP-led Senate. Despite a partisan battle that could have led to his removal from office, Americans support his economic record.
He pointed to historically low unemployment rate (3.5%), rising wages, and higher household incomes.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has boasted about his skills managing a "historic economy," repeatedly assuming credit for an expansion that began under President Obama and continued under his watch - now the longest on record and entering its 11th year.
But other benchmarks indicate the economy is a mixed bag under Trump. Inequality has continued widening, and tariffs from his trade wars weighed on the manufacturing sector it was supposed to help and boosted prices for consumer goods.
Here are four campaign pledges on the federal debt, jobs, manufacturing and economic growth where Trump has fallen short.