Trump Cancels Pelosi's Trip Abroad

After she requested that the State of the Union be postponed
By Luke Roney,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 17, 2019 3:48 PM CST
Trump Cancels Pelosi's Trip Abroad
Vice President Mike Pence, center, listens as President Donald Trump argues with House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

President Trump, it appears, is working on a new travel ban—and this one is aimed at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. On Thursday, the President sent Pelosi a letter saying that he was cancelling a congressional delegation’s trip abroad so Pelosi can stay in Washington DC and continue to talk border security with him, ABC reports, noting that Trump’s letter seems to be payback for Pelosi’s letter to him earlier this week in which she floated the idea of postponing the State of the Union address until after the shutdown ends. “Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed,” Trump writes in the letter, which was tweeted by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.

He calls the trip a “public relations event” and says, “I also feel that … it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the shutdown.” It appears, per the Hill, that Trump is declining to provide military transportation for the congressional delegation. But Trump does leave another option open: “If you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative.” Sanders tells the Hill that the cancellation is aimed at reaching an agreement and ending the shutdown so government workers don’t miss another paycheck. Many Democrats, predictably, have blasted the president’s move. But Republicans are lobbing criticism, too. In a series of tweets, Sen. Lindsey Graham said “One sophomoric response does not deserve another." (More government shutdown stories.)

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