President Donald Trump said in a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that he’ll deliver the State of the Union address as agreed upon earlier in the month. She didn’t accept though, saying in a Jan .23 letter that “the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber until” the ongoing partial government shutdown ends.
Trump said he wasn’t surprised by Pelosi’s response, telling reporters he’ll respond to her move “in a timely manner.”
Pelosi previously tried to block the president from giving the speech on the House floor, which is an annual tradition for presidents, citing security concerns stemming from the shutdown. She told him to postpone the speech until the government reopens. But agencies responsible for the security stated that her concerns were unwarranted and noted she’d failed to consult them.
Trump noted in his Jan. 23 letter that Pelosi had, before requesting that he postpone the speech, invited him to make the speech.
“Thank you for your letter of Jan. 3 sent to me long after the Shutdown began, inviting me to address the Nation on January 29th as to the State of the Union,” he wrote. “As you know, I had already accepted your kind invitation, however, I then received another letter from you dated January 16, 2019, wherein you expressed concerns regarding security during the State of the Union Address due to the Shutdown.”
President Trump accepts @SpeakerPelosi‘s invitation to do the #StateOfTheUnion speech on the original date, Jan 29, citing “no security concerns.” pic.twitter.com/OwrDfrzZWm
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) January 23, 2019
Trump said that the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service had told him there would be no problem regarding security for the event. Both departments also said so publicly following the release of Pelosi’s second letter.
“Accordingly, there are no security concerns regarding the State of the Union Address,” Trump said. “Therefore, I will be honoring your invitation, and fulfilling my Constitutional duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress of the United States of America regarding the State of the Union.”
Trump said he looked forward to seeing Pelosi on Jan. 29 in the Chamber of the House of Representatives. “It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!”
Trump had last addressed the issue on Jan. 20, when he said in a post on Twitter: “Nancy, I am still thinking about the State of the Union speech, there are so many options – including doing it as per your written offer (made during the Shutdown, security is no problem), and my written acceptance. While a contract is a contract, I’ll get back to you soon!”
Nancy, I am still thinking about the State of the Union speech, there are so many options – including doing it as per your written offer (made during the Shutdown, security is no problem), and my written acceptance. While a contract is a contract, I’ll get back to you soon!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2019
Centrist Democrats Urge Pelosi to End Shutdown
As the partial government shutdown stretched into its 32nd day, a group of centrist House Democrats called on Pelosi to end the stalemate over funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall and to offer some sort of compromise.
Trump has made several attempts at a bargain. On Jan. 19, he outlined an offer that would provide temporary protection from deportation to some 700,000 illegal immigrants that came to the country as children. In exchange, he wants $5.7 billion in border wall funding.
Trump’s proposal, outlined in a televised address on Jan. 19, was rejected by Pelosi before he started to speak.
Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), who is leading the group of centrist Democrats, urged Pelosi to offer Trump a vote on the border wall funding sometime in February if he ends up signing a bill to reopen the federal government.
“We know that you share our value that effective governing should not result in winners and losers, but that our job as legislators is to do the most good for the most people,” the letter (pdf) obtained by Politico stated.
“We understand that this shutdown was not caused by the 116th Congress, but it is our job to fix it,” it also stated.
Both Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have said they would not negotiate with Trump over border wall funding until he reopens the government. They said that they would be open to talks after he has done so.
Update: The article was updated with a responses from Rep. Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump.
Epoch Times reporters Bowen Xiao and Petr Svab contributed to this report.
