President Trump quickly accepted an invitation Friday from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to deliver the annual State of the Union address on Feb. 4.
White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley confirmed that the president will give the traditional address on that date — a day after the Iowa caucuses.
The prime-time speech will place Mr. Trump on the Speaker’s rostrum to confront House Democrats just two months after they voted to impeach him over his dealings with Ukraine.
Mrs. Pelosi, in a letter to the president sent two days after the impeachment vote, said her invitation was “in the spirit of respecting our Constitution.”
The timing of the annual prime-time speech could conflict with a Senate trial over Mr. Trump’s impeachment, which Republicans are hoping to start sometime in January. Mrs. Pelosi is refusing to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate until she’s convinced that the GOP will hold a fair trial.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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