Trump Will Deliver State of the Union After the Shutdown
“This is her [Nancy Pelosi] prerogative – I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”
We now, sort of, know when the State of the Union will happen after a day of passive aggressive letters between President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Trump tweeted at 11:12PM ET on Wednesday night that he will deliver the SOTU after the shutdown.
As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. 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….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019
….alternative venue for the SOTU 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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019
As I said, Trump and Pelosi exchanged testy letters with each other on Tuesday.
Trump told Pelosi, “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 thanked Pelosi for sending letters to invite him to deliver the State of the Union and then another one that “expressed concerns regarding security” during the address due to the shutdown.
He reminded Pelosi that “[E]ven prior to asking, I was contacted by the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Secret Service to explain that there would be absolutely no problem regarding security with respect to the event” and that they have even made this known to the public.
Trump continued:
Accordingly, there are no security concerns regarding the State of the Union Address. 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 our Union.
I look forward to seeing you on the evening on January 29th 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!
Pelosi said that the SOTU will not happen in the House chambers as long as the government is closed. She wrote:
I am writing to inform you 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 government has opened.
Again, I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened.”
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Comments
A bad decision.
Repeatedly we have seen Trump do things that looked like a bad move, only in a few days to weeks see them work out well. I find it hard to believe that Trump just rolled over, it is more likely that he is setting the stage for a coup.
Kim and Xi are watching how easy it is to roll Trump and his idle threats
Nothing has changed except that Nancy now also looks petty. The wins keep coming.
Agree. This puts EVEN MORE pressure on the Dems to end their Democrat Shut down that was over Chump Change. Nancy was Trump Trolled on this for 2 weeks. More Democrats and independents are Waking Up to Dems Frauds.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/01/23/magnanimous-president-trump-delays-state-of-the-union-address/ This
sorry but had to downvote this because it is just BS
Trump took the worst possible move in letting Pelosi dictate HIS SOTU address
IT is making the Speaker of the House look like she has clout where she really has none
the right response was to just to give it on the Senate floor and barring House democrats from entering, or hold it in front of the White House surrounded by House republicans and still barring House democrats from an appearance
Trump is sending the wrong message not just nation-wide but world-wide and whoever is advising the President that delaying the SOTU is the right course should NOT be in a position to advise this President and be out of their job
This week the Dems have thrown both DREAMERS and GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES under the bus.
If the shutdown goes on much longer, the Bus will need new tires.
Maybe President Trump knows something that we don’t about the votes today in the Senate to build the wall and/or end the shutdown. He’s already driven a wedge between Schumer and Pelosi. By giving her this small token win, he may gain the bigger victory very soon – funds for the wall.
According to Bloomberg there are 13 Repubs ready to flip and support the “no wall” House bill
Disregard. I was reading w/o my glasses
Or he screwed up and the optics definitely favor the Wicked Witch of the West.
Bad move. He needs to send a letter to Congress for the SOTU and hold a rally giving a public address to give the SOTU to the public and blast Pelosi and the dimocrats for the govt shutdown.
Let Trump give the State of the Union speech out on the American side of the Beltway. Tell the state of this union with truth which will be well received by normal Americans. In their response, let Pelosi and those liberal/progs tell the state of the Government from inside the Beltway. Trump can submit a written form of his speech to Congress the next day.
Took me awhile but I think I can explain this negtiation tatic now. Trump needed to have some oil to throw on old tauty Nancy’s agitated roiling waters. She really did a nasty self-destructive thing (which will be remembered against her) by the petulant brat calling off the SotU. In order to restore her face — which has little flex in it — Trump had to find something to stretch. And he did. He first tried ballooning the trip to Texas to give a SotU. No pull. SO he took a risky play in hand and pulled it off. Like a double reverse on a faked punt.
He said he would march into the Halls of Congress on the once invited day anyway. He double dared her to stop him. She did. This was her flex to his pull. Thus Trump restored her facial flexibilty, state affairs negotiation-wise. Amazing.
You can not negotiate with someone who is without flex. You must remove them, wait for an exit by other means (viz CHavez in Benezuala that doesn’t always open the doors again, viz Maduro). It can take a act of God. All acts are acts of God, so I mean a very obvious exception to the natural course of things. A great negotiater like Trump will throw out many many attempts to create flex in such circumstance. And have patience. Yet, there is only so long.
The best I can do at the moment is benefit of doubt. In a couple days we will see if this is a tactical maneuver or capitulation.
What a horrible disaster. His approval ratings are plummeting and he won’t give a speech to defend what he is doing, attack the Democrats, and rally support? He is an incompetent negotiator, and and his advisers are worse. No way to sugar coat this feckless stupidity.
first you are wrong – you can’t ever negotiate with people that refuse to negotiate (Democrats)
second you are right – his advisors are worse that what we all suspected (Republicans)
So incompetent he will wake up tomorrow President and will wake up every day for the next 6 years as President HAHAHHAA.
Trump is truly blessed by the dim as a 5w lightbulb enemies he faces every day (you may include yourself in this list darling).
Tactically, Trump has further cemented the blame for the partial shutdown on Pelosi. This raises the stakes for the disaster that awaits which side loses the standoff. A post-shutdown SOTU with Trump winning will be the death blow to the Pelosi regime and trigger the civil war for Dem party control.
What does having a SOTU accomplish now but establish break in a long-standing tradition that was begun by FDR? Missed opportunity for strong presidents today and in the future. Besides, Trump can always make a major speech by staging a rally. It doesn’t have to be a SOTU to be an important speech.
tactically, Trump can still accomplish all the above by still holding the SOTU in spite of Nancy’s stall tactic
because the one breaking long-standing tradition is going to be Trump if he allows the under party of DC to dictate to his own SOTU address
Democrats only control the House by a slim margin and the Republicans have the executive offices + senate floor
Democrats should be reminded everyday, like the Republicans were in 2010, that they don’t have enough power in DC to get anything done except make noise through congressional hearings
because Democrats can’t do jack sh*t without Republican crossover – which they know they will never get
THIS here though is giving the left side of politics a confidence boost when Trump should be using Pelosi’s gaff to his advantage
any SOTU delay is a win for the Democrats
That doesn’t put Trump’ signature on it but his veto would shove it good and hard on the Republican traitors and being the cowards they are they won’t dare try and send Trump that bill.
So… the State of the Union will be delivered in July.
Gotcha.
On this one I have to think that Trump made the right call. Had he done a SOTU in some other format—à la a campaign-style event—it would have been more divisive. Things are split now; a departure from tradition would make things worse (if that’s at all possible).
My take is that Trump decided that discretion is the better part of valor on SOTU. Let Pelosi have this “victory;” in the long run, it’s meaningless.
Play the long game, hold fast on the shutdown, and force some kind of compromise from the other side. Trump doesn’t have to worry about losing support from the federal workers. Northern Virginia, home to thousands of federal workers, is essentially a Blue State. Trump doesn’t have to worry about losing their support.
Where have you seen a call for these poor, “languishing”, federal workers to contact their elected representatives (Democrats all) and ask them to move on border security? Sound of crickets …
Exactly. Regardless of where Trump would make his SOTU during the partial shutdown, it would not be anywhere near as powerful as the SOTU he would deliver after winning the major battle.
This is THE opportunity for Republicans to finally prove that the days of fumbling at the 1 yard line are over. I haven’t heard Pelosi crowing about “winning” yet so maybe she gets it too. Trump is in a dominant position to crush her leadership and send the Dems into turmoil.
Shade
Smackdown
https://www.thehawkeye.com/opinion/20190123/air-pelosi-grounded
healthguyfsu: Smackdown
Trump prevented Pelosi from “vacationing” in war-torn Afghanistan, but the actual effect is that Trump refused to meet his responsibilities to provide the necessary security so that Pelosi can perform her constitutional duties as Speaker of the House to investigate and learn about U.S. foreign deployments.
Oh. So that’s why the majority of her and those 70 “family members” of the delegations trip was to be spent in Europe and Egypt
“Constitutional duties” my ass
murkyv: So that’s why the majority of her and those 70 “family members” of the delegations trip was to be spent in Europe and Egypt
Egypt wasn’t even on the itinerary. The layover in Brussels is required for the pilots to rest, and a meeting with NATO commanders was planned for that period. Then it was off to the wonderful famed beaches of Afghanistan.
There is something coming; he capitulated for a reason.
Scroll the troll. I’ve been doing so for a long time.
So, despite the yearning for a dictator abroad in the land, the Constitutional order stands.
That’s VERY good!
Duh Donald stepped back from the brink, much to the dismay of his myrmidons.
except there is no Constitutional order Trump has to abide by in this scenario
the House Democracts can play semantics in not yielding the floor but Trump can respond in the same manner and still give the SOTU on the Senate floor
or in front of the White House, inside the Oval Office, or even just giving a small speech at a border rally and submitting a formal letter to Congress afterwards
the President is under no obligation to listen to the demands of the Speaker of the House in this regard, or practically any other
CAPITULATING is how bad precedent is set
not by Trump rejecting the Pelosi’s protest and going through with it anyway
Sure there is.
On a previous thread, T-rump cultists urged that he give his speech in the House, despite the Constitutional prohibition of there being separate and co-equal branches of government.
He danced back from the brink. That was a good move.
What brink? Just because some non thinking posters on here advocated Trump make an emergency declaration doesn’t mean he was considering it. Honestly look at the moves objectively and you might realize he was painting Pelosi into a corner that she is now in. The only reason she hasn’t been run over yet is that the media is keeping it out of the news cycle as much as possible.
wrong
there is nothing in the US Constitution giving the Speaker of the House any authority over the President’s State of the Union address
absolutely none
an opposing party can adjectivally protest such an event but they have no constitutional power to compel such an event from occurring
the right move is for Trump to ignore Pelosi and hold the SOTU elsewhere and bar any House democrats from attendance
and that would still be within a sitting President’s constitutional authority
BUUUUUUUUUUT Rags, the left keeps telling us he is literally HITLER and is a DICTATOR!!!
Either he is brilliant OR you idiots on the left are idiots BUT most likely both are true HAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHA Brit soccer hooligan, I don’t give a rip about what the left says.
I care about our Constitutional government, and that it be maintained.
T-rump stepped up to the brink and then folded like a cheap tent.
For me, that’s just wonderful. He did the right thing. Despite his inclinations.
Nancy fully owns the shutdown now. Trump justt threw the ball back in her court. What can she do with it except stand there and look like she’s unwilling to play.
Trump has two years and intends to win back the love of those whining today by accomplishing meaningful wins in the economy, trade, etc.
Nancy owns every death, rape , violent crime and drug death. Every day this stays in the papers, the dems (and rhinos ) own open borders and the horrors that lawless human and drug trafficking bring.
I’m failing to understand why Pelosi has any say in this at all, or why the President is even taking her into account. As has been mentioned multiple times, he can choose where he wants to speak – could be the Senate, could be the House (if an outside camera crew accompanies him), could be in a stadium in front of 50,000 people.
Pelosi needs to be shown just how small she really is, and that she’s queen of a massive dumpster fire. Trump needs to scrape morons like this off and keep doing his thing.
Presenting the SOTU before a joint session of Congress is a new tradition. They used to be dry written accounting submitted without any fanfare at all. But over the years, they have been reduced to obnoxious partisan campaign theater.
You (and others) are making far too much of this. How do you think the Dems (especially the new communist wave) are planning to behave? They are already storming through the halls of Congress staging protests with professional protesters.
This SOTU will be farce whenever it occurs. This is no victory for Pelosi nor the Dems. Trump took the high road by preserving his end of the tradition for posterity, Pelosi is further entrenched in her petty intransigence as the shut-down continues.
With Trump repeatedly daring to sign bills giving the Dems pretty much everything they want and Pelosi rejecting them before they even hit the floor for a vote, I’m sure the point has been made that this is not about money but about Trump getting credit for anything. Pressure is already mounting from the more centrist Dems to accept the last offer from Trump (no chance it would pass anyway). Pelosi cannot win. And Trump just refocused attention to the core issue of intransigence and away from the personal back-and-forth pettiness of where and when the SOTU takes place.
Well played Donald!
I see what you’re saying, but I’ll make of it what I want, thank you very much.
UJ: As has been mentioned multiple times, he can choose where he wants to speak – could be the Senate, could be the House (if an outside camera crew accompanies him), could be in a stadium in front of 50,000 people.
The Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government. The President has no more right to speak in the House Chamber than he has to speak in your living room or a stadium. An invitation is required.
Uh huh.
I think this was absolutely the right call, in light of the Covington Catholic student coverage…which has been a historic debacle and has split the country even more along cultural lines.
For example, the attempt to equate the Trump Red Hat with a KKK hood. I am so spitting furious at this being promoted by our press, I am half tempted to go and buy one and wear it…and I am behind enemy lines.
Imagine, if you will, Trump having one of his classic rallies in a sea of these caps…and what our crappy press would do with the imagery. President Trump wisely opted not to heat up this situation.
Bonus: Pelosi looks like the small shrew that she is.
Plus, with Chinese and North Korea negotiations continuing, there may be a lot more win to report later on.
Personally, I am disappointed…but I know whatever Trump has in mind will be even better.
Whatever his reason(s) the perception is that she won. Which means that those of us who didn’t like the man but did like that he fought the dang Dems find ourselves back to square one. Never did like him and never will. I thought he was a fighter. Now? Guess not.
IMO – He blinked – she won – and the GOPe is probably dancing around their offices because he just pi$$ed off a large number of those that voted for and supported him because he would fight.
You have a very narrow view of Trump supporters if you think they are going to abandon Trump over this move.
The reason we continue to support Trump is because he is the ONLY one willing to fight and he is relentless. Where did all of the nose-holding apologists instructing us to “voter for the lesser of two evils” go? The “conservatives” always berating those of us who want the Republican politicians to fight for the GOP platform? We can’t cut Trump, the ONLY guy willing to fight for us, even an inch of maneuvering room?
We need to back off and give the him benefit of the doubt. We aren’t interested in style but results. For ONCE, please don’t fumble the ball at the one yard line! Step into the end zone!
I have mixed feelings on this one. No doubt the MSM would get their marching orders and report the audacity to give this speech during the shutdown so that clips their wings a bit during the news cycle.
On the other hand, the optics of a republican only invite in the senate chamber with all standing ovations is an image the MSM couldn’t filter quite as easy.
Neither the Office of President of the United States of America nor the Speak of the House of Representatives has been served well by this p*ssing-match between Trump and Pelosi. In whatever manner one views this, I think Trump blinked, the loser is America.
I cringe to think of what the weeks and months ahead will bring.
Does anyone really care that there will be no SOTU speech?
I could care less. It’s not 1920. We can get the information we want off Trump’s twitter feed if we are interested. That he’s not giving it seems such a non-event to me.
Makes nancy look like a power hungry fool, clinging to that giant gavel like some bauble she picked up at the farmers market. Now what nancy? Blank stare is what. She is playing from the old, tired playbook from the last century. We know what the state of the union is. This move is the equivalent of tug of war, where at the height of a pull, one party let’s go of the rope, and the “winner” crashes backwards into grandma’s china cabinet. We all know who crashed and who let go of the rope.
Considering the number of investigation planned by the Dems and the impending release of the Mueller report, I think it’s wise of Trump to roll with SOTU delay and save his “Stick-it-where-the-sun-don’t-shine” card for when he really needs to play it. If he plays it now, it won’t have the same effect when Dems start banging the impeachment drum.
So, now, according to FoxNews:
“Separately, the president said it was ‘very reasonable’ for Pelosi to block his planned State of the Union address in the House of Representatives until the end of the shutdown.”
Also, the “White House on Thursday signaled that a ‘large down payment’ on border wall funding — and potentially less than the $5.7 billion that President Trump has long requested — could be sufficient to bring Republicans to the table and end the ongoing partial federal government shutdown.”
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-large-down-payment-on-wall-could-end-government-shutdown
He’s beginning to sound more and more like the RINO’s he ran against. Sure makes it confusing, at least to those who like me who would like to know “What’s upppp!”
Good decision. Ask *why* Trump does things, as in what is the GOAL of his actions.
Why did Trump wait until the last bill of the second year of his term before threatening a veto over money to build a wall? A: To place the blame on Schumer, who refused to let it come to the floor without blocking it. If he had tried this in the middle of the term, most likely a Republican Senator or two might have flinched and seen it go down 49:50.
Why has he made motions of compromise to the Dems? A: To show what hypocritical twits they are, and how they act like spoiled children while he is the ‘responsible one’ willing to compromise.
Why delay the SOTU until after the shutdown? Because this puts the *whole* weight on Pelosi, who blocked him from giving it during the shutdown.
The SOTU address is mainly for the American people, not the live audience that sits in front of the President in the House chamber. Nothing in the constitution requires the speech be given there. So, Trump could have given the address from the oval office or a large auditorium he chose inviting members of congress who wished to attend and the usual core of people for the galleries. He should have gone ahead and shown Peolosi to be no more than a minor and petty nuisance. Trump does have superb negotiating skills and will probably come out of this ahead but it looks weak to give in to Pelosi on virtually anything.