Pelosi Rips Up Trump’s Speech. Right there on the podium.

By LAURIE KELLMAN and LISA MASCARO

WASHINGTON (AP) — And then she tore up the speech.

No sooner had President Donald Trump finished his State of the Union address than House Speaker Pelosi ripped the paper it was printed on in two.

Right there, on camera, behind Trump’s back. As he stepped down, she ripped again. Then a third time. And a fourth. If Trump knew about the American carnage going on behind him, he didn’t react as he left. But Pelosi was on her turf, with a deep understanding of her audience — and she wasn’t finished. In case any confusion remained, Pelosi held up what remained of the address to her family in the gallery, in full view of reporters.

“It was a manifesto of mistruths,” Pelosi told reporters as she left the Capitol. The ripping was not planned, according to a person close to the speaker who was unauthorized to speak publicly.

Tearing the speech gave Pelosi the last visual word over Trump, who had spoken to the House from a position of strength. He arrived in the chamber with the full force of the Republican Party behind him. She is leading a party in the throes of a divisive presidential nomination fight that had botched the kickoff Iowa caucuses only the night before. The House had impeached Trump on her watch. But the Senate was poised to acquit him.

From the start, the event was awkward because the history between those two was so icy. They had not spoken since October, when Pelosi pointed at Trump over a White House conference table, suggested that Russia controls him and walked out.

Now, Trump was returning to the very chamber where he was impeached, standing before the same Democrats who have called him unfit for office and sought to oust him. He stepped to the podium and handed navy blue folders containing his speech to Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence. Photos from that moment show that Trump mistakenly handed Pence’s copy to Pelosi. The outside reads in gold letters: “The President of the Senate of the United States.” That’s Pence’s title.

At that moment, Pelosi extended a hand. Trump did not acknowledge it, instead turning around to begin his speech.

Pelosi, famous for casting shade, especially on Trump, gave a look.

For 78 minutes, Trump went on to extol a “Great American Comeback” on his watch, just three years after he took office decrying a land of “American carnage” under his predecessor. Pelosi read through her copy as he spoke.