In a tweet that read like it was too intelligent and submissive to be written by him, Donald Trump announced late Wednesday night that he would give the State of the Union address to Congress after the government shutdown was over, uncharacteristically caving to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said he wouldn’t be invited as long as the government was closed.
Tweeted Trump: “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……..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!
It was a fast turnabout in their game of chicken.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump sent a letter to Pelosi disregarding her January 16 letter telling him that the State of the Union could not be held as scheduled because of Secret Service security concerns caused by the government shutdown.
Said Trump in the letter: “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 fired back with a letter of her own, saying “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.”
Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio called Trump’s cave shocking, and doesn’t believe he wrote the tweet.
Said D’Antonio: “It’s shocking. This sounds like something that maybe Ivanka wrote or Jared Kushner. It really doesn’t sound like Donald Trump’s language. This is a fellow who has troubles stringing three words together in the right order.”
Added D’Antonio: “I think he’s scared. He’s afraid. He’s politically afraid the Senate Republicans are probably telling him this is a disaster. He sees that people are suffering and are fed up with maybe he’s going to act presidential because he’s being forced to act presidential.”
