State Of The Union 2019: Trump, Pelosi Tweet Barbs At Each Other

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday took a swipe at President Donald Trump after the latter tweeted it was her "prerogative" to fix the date for the president's State of the Union address.

In his tweet, Trump said Pelosi had asked him to deliver the address while the partial government shutdown was underway, but later changed her mind.

"This is her prerogative - I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over. I am not looking for an alternative venue for the SOTU Address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber," Trump wrote in a two-part tweet. "I look forward to giving a ‘great’ State of the Union Address in the near future!" he added.

Replying to the tweet, the House Speaker said she hoped Trump would end the shutdown as soon as possible and enable the government to run. The Senate would hold two votes Thursday, to end the ongoing shutdown. One among them would urge Trump to reopen the government in exchange for his demanded $5.7 billion for securing the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Please accept this proposal so we can re-open government, repay our federal workers and then negotiate our differences," she said.

The present shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, began Dec. 22.

Pelosi had sent a letter to the president and invited him to give his address on Jan. 3, while the shutdown was ongoing, however, she later asked him to either deliver it on a different day or cancel the event. She had stated security reasons for her decision.

Trump, who had challenged the claim, wrote in his letter addressed to Pelosi, "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 had said he would deliver the speech from the House Chamber on Jan. 29, but canceled it Wednesday after Pelosi told him she didn’t approve of it taking place during the impasse.

The two have reportedly not met face-to-face since their Jan. 9 meeting at the White House, which Trump described as a "total waste of time".

"Just left a meeting with Chuck and Nancy, a total waste of time. I asked what is going to happen in 30 days if I quickly open things up, are you going to approve Border Security which includes a Wall or Steel Barrier? Nancy said, NO. I said bye-bye, nothing else works!" Trump later tweeted about his meeting with Pelosi and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer.