In the battle over the State of the Union, President Donald Trump has decided to stand down.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., disinvited Trump in a letter Wednesday from delivering the State of the Union. Trump’s early reaction was, “We’ll do something in the alternative. I’ll be talking to you about that at a later date.”
However, in a pair of late-night tweets Wednesday, Trump said he would not deliver the State of the Union address until after the partial government shutdown has ended because no other venue could compete with the House of Representatives chamber.
“As the shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union address,” Trump said in the tweet. “I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative—I will do the address when the shutdown is over. I am not looking for an….alternative venue for the [State of the Union] address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition, and importance of the House chamber. I look forward to giving a ‘great’ State of the Union address in the near future!”
Pelosi responded that Trump should support the House bill to reopen the government that does not include funding for a border barrier.
“Mr. President, I hope by saying ‘near future’ you mean you will support the House-passed package to #EndTheShutdown that the Senate will vote on [Thursday],” Pelosi said in a tweet. “Please accept this proposal so we can reopen government, repay our federal workers, and then negotiate our differences.”
The Senate is voting Thursday on Trump’s proposed compromise to reopen the government, which would swap a three-year amnesty plan for illegal immigrants brought to the United States by their parents for $5.7 billion in funding for a border wall.
Pelosi rejected the Trump compromise before he formally proposed it during a speech Saturday.
