The United States President Donald Trump has canceled his annual state of union address as the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has postponed Trump’s address citing the ongoing partial government shutdown.
According to WPTV news reports, a penned-note to Trump on January 23, Pelosi stated: “I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President’s State of Union address in the House Chamber until the government has opened.”
In a Twitter post, Pelosi wrote: “This afternoon, I sent Donald Trump a letter informing him that the House will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber until the government has opened.”
This afternoon, I sent @realDonaldTrump a letter informing him that the House will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the President’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber until government has opened. https://t.co/r1oad0xEAh pic.twitter.com/kGEbayx95u
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 23, 2019
However, while interacting with reporters, Trump said there would few alternatives to the address, but outlined no details. Trump called the address cancellation a “great, great horrible mark” as well as a “great blotch” on the US.
Nancy, further outlined that she is looking forward to welcoming Trump to the House “on a mutually agreeable date” for the state of the union address when the government reopens.
In her letter, Pelosi wrote: “When I extended an invitation on January 3 for you to deliver the State of the Union address, it was on the mutually agreed upon date, January 29. At that time, there was no thought that the government would still be shut down.”
She mentioned: “In my further correspondence of January 16, I said we should work together to find a mutually agreeable date when the government has re-opened and I hope that we can still do that.”
Trump was quoted by CNN as saying: “We are supposed to be doing it and Nancy Pelosi – or Nancy, as I call her – she doesn’t want to hear the truth and she does not want to hear, more importantly, for the American people to hear the truth.”
Trump further stated: “I think it is a great blotch on the incredible country that we all love. It’s a great, great, horrible mark. I don’t believe it’s ever happened before, and it’s always good to be part of history but this is a very negative part of history.”
Trump remarked “I am not surprised” with Pelosi’s decision to postpone the speech. He claimed, “It’s really a shame what’s happening with the Democrats. They’ve become radicalized.”
Meanwhile, the US Senate will be voting on Thursday, January 24, to reopen the shuttered government.