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What is the State Of The Union Address, when did the President’s annual speech first take place and what is the designated survivor?
BOTH Houses of the US Congress, the Cabinet and a host of other VIPs all gather to hear President Donald Trump give his State of the Union address.
Plus we reveal what happens if the people running the country are all wiped out by a catastrophe.
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What is the State of the Union address?
Traditionally, the US President gives an annual speech to Congress called the State of the Union address.
It is a chance to cover the administration's accomplishments over the past year and its plans for the coming year on domestic and international issues.
The speech is broadcast live to millions on television and radio, so presidents usually take the opportunity to appeal directly to voters.
It has become one of the most important events in the US political calendar and can set the political tone for the months ahead.
Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, gave his first such address on January 30, 2018, after a turbulent 12 months in office.
In February 2017 Mr Trump gave a similar speech to Congress but it was not officially termed "the State of the Union" as he had only been in the White House for five weeks.
When was the 2019 State of the Union address?
Donald Trump gave his State of the Union address TODAY - Tuesday, February 5.
The annual speech was originally scheduled for Tuesday, January 29, in the chamber of the US House of Representatives.
However during the US Government Shutdown, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosiasked Trump to postpone the address because of security issues.
In his speech Trump blasted wealthy elites for backing "open borders while living behind walls".
And he criticised Democrat politicians for blocking his £4.4bn border wall plan.
In her response to Trump's address Democrat Stacey Abrams said: "Compassionate treatment at the border is not the same as open borders."
She added: "America is made stronger by the presence of immigrants, not walls."
Abrams is a Democrat who lost a gubernatorial battle in Georgia's 2018 midterm election.
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When did the annual State of the Union address begin?
The US Constitution requires the President to periodically "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."
George Washington was the first to give an annual speech to a joint session of Congress, beginning in 1790.
In 1801, Thomas Jefferson put a stop to the practice which he said was too "monarchical".
For more than a hundred years, presidents delivered a written report that was read out by a clerk.
In 1913, Woodrow Wilson re-established the practice of a speech in Congress, and since then every president except Herbert Hoover has given at least one address.
Warren Harding's address in 1922 was the first to be broadcast on radio and Harry Truman's was the first to be televised in 1947.
The name "State of the Union" first emerged in 1934 when Franklin Roosevelt used the phrase, and it later became the generally accepted term. Before then it was called "the President's Annual Message to Congress".
In 1965, when Lyndon Johnson was in the White House, the address was moved to the evening to reach the widest possible television audience.
By convention, the responsibility of reporting the State of the Union belongs to the president who held office during the past year.
Newly inaugurated Presidents therefore do not officially call their first speech before Congress a "State of the Union" message.
Outgoing presidents may deliver a final State of the Union report, but none has done so since Jimmy Carter sent a written message in 1981.
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What is the designated survivor?
The State of the Union address is a major occasion attended by hundreds of VIPs.
Behind the President's rostrum sit the Vice-President and the Speaker of the House - the two people next in the line of succession if the President were incapacitated.
Also in attendance are members of the Cabinet such as the Secretary of State, Treasury Secretary and Attorney General, hundreds of senators and congressmen, and the country's most senior judges and other officials.
The event is a prime target for a terror attack or coup attempt with the possibility of wiping out practically the entire government in one place.
Officials have detailed plans in case of such a catastrophe, dating back to the Cold War when there were fears of a nuclear strike.
A designated survivor is chosen - usually a member of the Cabinet who is eligible to take presidential office (i.e. over the age of 35 and not disqualified for a reason such as being born outside the US).
That person is taken to an undisclosed location far away, and given presidential-level security and transport for the occasion.
An aide travelling with him carries the "nuclear football" - a briefcase containing means to authorise a nuclear attack.
If the President, Vice-President, Speaker and the other high-ranking officials were all killed, the designated survivor would be sworn in as Acting President under the Presidential Succession Act.
The TV series Designated Survivor is based on this prospect, starring Kiefer Sutherland as a low-ranking Cabinet member who unexpectedly becomes president after an attack on the US Capitol.
In the wake of the 2001 attack on New York and the Pentagon, arrangements have also been made for members of Congress to be away from the State of the Union event, ensuring enough survive to form a rump legislature and continue essential business.
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