President Trump said Thursday that he agreed to delay the State of the Union address because Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was “actually reasonable” in her request to reschedule the speech, despite his previous protestations.
“It’s really her choice,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I would have done it in a different location but I think that would be very disrespectful to the State of the Union to pick some other place.”
“What she said, I thought, was actually reasonable,” he added. “We’ll have the State of the Union when the shutdown’s over.”
The president’s approval of Pelosi’s approach to the State of the Union marked a sharp reversal from a day earlier, when he fiercely objected to the Speaker’s insistence that the speech be rescheduled.
{mosads}Pelosi said last week that the speech would be rescheduled until after the government was reopened, citing security concerns. One-quarter of the government has been shuttered since the shutdown began on Dec. 22.
The president wrote to Pelosi on Wednesday informing her that he would go ahead with plans to deliver the speech on Jan. 29 in the House, setting up a potential showdown between the two leaders at the Capitol.
“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.
Pelosi doubled down hours later, writing to the president that the House would not consider a concurrent resolution to hold the State of the Union until the government was reopened.
Trump slammed Pelosi, calling her decision a “great, great horrible mark” on the country and suggesting he may do “something in the alternative.”
Hours later, however, Trump caved and tweeted that he would deliver the speech once the shutdown had ended.
Trump said Thursday that he couldn’t anticipate when the shutdown might end after the Senate rejected two measures earlier in the day to reopen the government.