Trump vows to carry on with State of Union address

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) - In a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to continue forward with the annual State of the Union address, and said he looked forward to Pelosi's presence.

The president said that it would be "very sad" if the address was not given on time.

"I look forward to seeing you on the evening on January 29th in the Chamber of the House of Representatives," Trump said to Pelosi in the letter.

Last Wednesday, Pelosi asked Trump to delay his State of the Union address, slated for Jan. 29, citing alleged security challenges prompted by the ongoing partial government shutdown.

The Speaker told reporters she did not want to proceed with the president's speech because she did not want to have security officials work without pay due to the partial government shutdown.

Trump responded to Pelosi by halting a planned international trip by the House Speaker which included stops in Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan, deepening a growing row between the leaders over funding.

"There are no security concerns regarding the State of the Union Address. 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," Trump said in his letter.

With the shutdown lasting now over a month, more than 800,000 federal employees are still working without pay if their duties are deemed essential, or being forced to stay home from their jobs amid the funding lapse.

Trump insists that lawmakers provide him with nearly $6 billion to fund the construction of his separation barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, but Democrats have so far uniformly rejected the demand, claiming a wall is inefficient and immoral.

Democrats have passed several bills to reopen the government without the funding, but Trump has worked alongside congressional Republicans to ensure they do not clear the federal legislature.

Public opinion polling indicates the majority of Americans blame the president and congressional Republicans for the funding deadlock, with Trump having the lowest approval ratings in a year.