Washington, Jan 24 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will deliver the state of union speech in front of a joint session of Congress on January 29, despite House Speaker Pelosi’s suggestion that the speech be pushed back.
In a letter addressed to Pelosi released by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Trump said he would honour an invitation Pelosi extended to him on January 3 to deliver the speech, reports Xinhua.
“I will be honouring your invitation, and fulfil my Constitution duty, to deliver important information to the people and Congress of the United States of America regarding the State of our Union,” Trump said in the letter.
Trump acknowledged that Pelosi suggested in the January 16 letter that the speech be postponed or delivered in writing due to security concerns, but he said he had been assured by the Department of Homeland Security that the government shutdown would not pose security risk to the event.
“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!” Trump said at the end of the letter.
The state of the union speech is traditionally delivered in the chamber of the House of Representatives to a joint session of Congress at the end of January, and is broadcasted to the nation.
–IANS
vc