No one at the White House expected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to disinvite President Trump from giving this year's State of the Union address in the House chamber, so when she did, they clambered to come up with a way to respond, CNN reports.
Last week, Pelosi asked Trump to postpone the address until the government shutdown is over, so on Wednesday, White House staffers were prepared for her to just delay the speech, officials told CNN. Trump thought he had the upper hand when he sent her a letter pushing back against her concerns that it's not safe for him to deliver the State of the Union during the shutdown. Pelosi responded by sending Trump a letter informing him that "the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the president's State of the Union address in the House chamber until the government has opened."
White House staffers are now scrambling to find a different venue, but running into issues everywhere they turn. Several officials are concerned that if Trump decides to give the State of the Union during a rally, it not only won't be covered by the networks, but Trump will go off track and start rambling about something else. There's talk that Trump should deliver the address from the Oval Office or another area in the White House, officials told CNN, but Trump was not a fan of the speech on immigration he gave in the Oval Office earlier this month, and judging by polls, voters weren't either.