President Donald Trump sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday indicating that he plans to proceed with his State of the Union address on January 29.
“Thank you for your letter of January 3, 2019, sent to me long after the Shutdown began, inviting me to address the Nation on January 29th as to the State of the Union,” Trump 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.”
Trump indicated that the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Secret Service contacted him and told him that there “would be absolutely no problem regarding security with respect to the event.”
Pelosi demanded in her January 16 letter that the White House delay Trump’s State of the Union address. The Daily Wire reported:
In a letter to President Donald Trump, made public Wednesday morning, Pelosi admonished the president for planning to hold the annual address, claiming that a “State of the Union Address has never been delivered during a government shutdown” since the inception of modern Congressional budgeting processes in 1977.
The Speaker of the House added that since the Secret Service is included in the government furlough, Congress lacks the security necessary to hold the event, even though critical staff members are still on the job, just not receiving paychecks.
“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,” Trump continued. “I look forward to seeing you on the evening on January 29th in the Chamber of the House of Representatives.”
Full text of the letter:
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515Dear Madam Speaker:
Thank you for your letter of January 3, 2019, sent to me long after the Shutdown began, inviting me to address the Nation on January 29th as to the State of the Union. 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. Even 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. They have since confirmed this publicly.
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!
Sincerely,
Donald J. Trump
