Only hours before his expected acquittal on impeachment charges, U.S. President Donald Trump started the annual State of the Union address, touting the U.S. economy since his inauguration.

"In just three short years we have shattered the mentality of American decline and we have rejected the downsizing of America's destiny," he said.

Trump avoided the subject of his impeachment in the early portion of his speech, but the scars from the battle were evident with fellow Republicans giving him standing ovations while rival Democrats for the most part remained seated.

The Republican-led Senate was expected to acquit him on Wednesday of charges that he abused his powers and obstructed Congress.

Seeing U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the first time since she stormed out of a White House meeting four months ago, he declined to shake her outstretched hand as he gave her a copy of the speech.

In the audience, Republicans from both houses of Congress chanted "four more years" as he stood at the lectern in the chamber of the House with a presidential election almost exactly nine months away.

Democrats sat silently and some could be seen shaking their heads as Trump declared, "The state of our union is stronger than ever before."

"We will never let socialism destroy American health care!" Trump said.

Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have proposed health care plans that would be entirely run by the government, a sharp departure from the current, private system in which millions of Americans get medical insurance from their employers.

While Trump has likened their plans to socialism, his lack of a health care plan has left him open to criticism that he has not put enough work into finding a way to reduce rising insurance costs that burden middle-class Americans. Yet during the address, the U.S. president promised to protect American's Medicare plans and patients with pre-existing conditions.

Trump also brought up the death of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force, who was killed in a U.S. air strike in Baghdad last month.

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"Soleimani was the Iranian regime's most ruthless butcher, a monster who murdered or wounded thousands of American service members in Iraq," Trump said. "Last month, at my direction, the U.S. military executed a flawless precision strike that killed Soleimani and terminated his evil reign of terror forever."

"Our message to the terrorists is clear: You will never escape American justice. If you attack our citizens, you forfeit your life," Trump added.

Mentioning the coronavirus outbreak, Trump announced that his administration is now working to coordinate with China so that both countries can face the epidemic together.

The remarks came one day after criticism by Beijing that Washington isn't doing much. "The U.S. has made repeated offers to provide aid to China to fight the outbreak. We hope Washington could provide the offered aid soon," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.

The U.S. is among the first countries to issue travel restrictions on Chinese nationals, even though experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) have recommended against such measures.

(With input from Reuters)