Trump says Pelosi canceled State of the Union to avoid 'the truth'

The White House is moving forward with plans for President Donald Trump to deliver his State of the Union speech next week in front of a joint session of Congress - despite a letter from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requesting he delay it.

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 the government has opened.

When sworn in as house speaker on Jan 3, Pelosi invited Trump to deliver the speech on Jan 29, in accordance with long-running tradition. Trump told reporters the details of his new event would come at a later date. And she's afraid of the truth, ' he said.

Trump responded to Pelosi's new letter Wednesday by criticizing Democrats on border security, calling them "radicalized". "He was not being vicious at all, he said 'I want people to make their plans'".

On Jan. 16, Pelosi sent Trump a letter asking him to consider giving the address in writing. Trump called her bluff Wednesday in a letter, saying he meant to come anyway.

He concluded that 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!" However, she has not officially disinvited Trump from addressing the nation before a joint session of Congress. A Republican one would give Trump money for the wall while one from Democrats would re-open government through February 8, with no wall money, giving bargainers time to talk about it.

The US government shutdown - stemming from disagreement between the White House and the Democratic Party regarding funding for a border wall - is about to enter its 34th day. The address has been delayed before. As Eisenhower recovered from a heart attack in 1956, he prepared a seven-minute, filmed summary of the message from his retreat in Key West, Florida, that was broadcast nationwide. Nevertheless, they were rattled by Pelosi's move Wednesday and expressed concern it would further sour shutdown negotiations. In a letter addressed to the president, the Speaker explained that she had initially extended the invitation for a January 29 address with the assumption that the government would have re-opened before then.

"I understand you have other plans for #SOTU, but as we discussed, I look forward to hosting you in MI again soon", Chatfield wrote. She doesn't want the American public to hear what's going on.

He added that his team did not believe there were any security concerns and that he would 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". The power play - which Trump countered by revoking Pelosi's use of a military aircraft, thereby canceling a congressional delegation visit to Afghanistan - had put the status of the marquee speech in limbo, leaving staff scrambling to figure out how to proceed.