House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has officially extended an invitation to President Donald Trump to give the annual State of the Union Address on Capitol Hill Tuesday, February 5. She extended the invitation in a letter sent to the White House Monday afternoon.
"When I wrote to you on January 23rd, I stated that we should work together to find a mutually agreeable date when government has reopened to schedule this year’s State of the Union address," Pelosi wrote. "In our conversation today, we agreed on February 5th. Therefore, I invite you to deliver your State of the Union address before a Joint Session of Congress on February 5, 2019 in the House Chamber."
White House officials said Monday morning and over the weekend staffers from both parties were in talks about coming up with a mutual date, but that an invitation hadn't been issued. Earlier in the day, Pelosi said nothing was planned yet.
Last week, Pelosi disinvited the President to give the address during the government shutdown and said a mutually agreed upon date would be negotiated once the government was reopened.
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....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2019
President Trump agreed to open the government on Friday afternoon and gave Congress a deadline of February 15 to come up with a border security agreement that includes funding for a barrier or wall.
