Free Republic

By Thomas Lifson There are a lot of foolish back-slapping and high fives among Trump-haters from both parties this morning on the news that President Trump has agreed to postpone the State of the Union Address in the wake of Speaker Pelosi withdrawing the invitation to use the House of Representatives' chamber.  (For example, "Trump waves the white flag and surrenders to Nancy Pelosi on State of the Union" and "Flounder in Chief Folds.")  Celebrate now, repent later.  The chess game is far from over. As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address....

President Trump said late Wednesday that he would deliver his State of the Union address after the ongoing partial government shutdown is over. "As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address," Trump wrote in a tweet. "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." Trump clarified earlier statements suggesting he may do an “alternative” State of the Union, writing that he was not seeking an alternative venue because...

The House speaker, fortified by brutal polling for Donald Trump, refuses to provide the President an easy way out of his own political box as the government shutdown sparked by his demand for a border wall drags into a 34th day. In his latest skirmish with Pelosi, Trump effectively admitted defeat late Wednesday and conceded that he would not be able to give his State of the Union address until after the shutdown ends. Earlier in the day, he had publicly thrown down a gauntlet and tried to force the speaker to back down over her refusal to let next...