Trump Tells Pelosi He Will Deliver State of the Union, on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump sent a letter on Wednesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, telling her he planned to deliver his State of the Union address in Congress as originally scheduled next Tuesday, despite her earlier warning of security concerns.

The letter is the latest move in a game of brinkmanship between the two over the address.

Pelosi had invited Trump to deliver the speech in a letter on Jan. 3. But on Jan. 16, she warned that there were security concerns about the president’s coming to Capitol Hill because of the partial government shutdown, which began about a month ago.

Trump said in Wednesday’s letter that he had checked — and that there were no such concerns from the Secret Service.

“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,” the president wrote.

“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!” he wrote.

Trump’s announcement seemed meant to put the Democrat leadership on the spot, and Democrats had issued somewhat contradictory language on the president’s invitation.

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader, appeared Tuesday on Fox News and was asked if he would be willing to host the president. He gave a one-word answer: “Sure.” That led to speculation that he disagreed with Pelosi.

But on Wednesday, Hoyer spoke to reporters and said the U.S. Capitol Police would be fully prepared to provide security in the event that Trump delivered the address in the Capitol.

“Nancy and I are on the same page. She didn’t disinvite him,” Hoyer said of Pelosi. “What she said was she thought it would be appropriate to choose a different date. He has not done so.”

In a closed-door meeting with House Democrats on Wednesday morning, before Trump sent his letter, Pelosi made it clear that she still believed the speech should not occur, and advised lawmakers against arranging for their families to be at the Capitol for it.

“With government shut down and people not getting paid, why should we go through this?” she said, according to an aide in the room who described her comments on the condition of anonymity because they were private.

Pelosi said some Democrats had approached her asking if they should arrange for family members to be in Washington for the occasion.

“Why does your family want to come to this thing in the first place?” she said, drawing laughter, according to the aide. “I wouldn’t spend any money to come out here.”

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the chairman of the House Democratic caucus, told reporters that “unless the government is reopened, it’s highly unlikely that the State of the Union will take place on the floor of the House of Representatives.”