President Trump cancelled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s government-funded trip abroad today as he slapped back at her for a request that he postpone his State of the Union address.
Pelosi has been scheduled to visit Brussels and Afghanistan with other lawmakers.
They were seen waiting on a bus outside a House Office Building on Capitol Hill this afternoon when White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted a letter from the president informing Pelosi that he was grounding her.
Democratic legislators were left circling the U.S. Capitol amid a mad scramble to confirm details of Trump’s decision to halt their military aircraft.
Trump said in his note to Pelosi that he was remanding her plane ‘due to the shutdown’ — a throwback to her request a day before that he delay his State of the Union speech until after the government reopens.
It was a vindictive and retaliatory move, something Trump has been famous for in New York circles for decades, and Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham said both party leaders ought to knock it off.
Trump traveled to Iraq on Christmas Day amid the shutdown to visit the troops.
A delegation of congressional Republicans was also allowed to travel abroad.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill noted in tweets that the trip to Afghanistan ‘included a required stop in Brussels for pilot rest’ that the House speaker planned to fill with NATO meetings.
‘The purpose of the trip was to express appreciation & thanks to our men & women in uniform for their service & dedication, & to obtain critical national security & intelligence briefings from those on the front lines,’ Hammill said.
Pelosi had already called off a congressional recess amid the government shutdown, and the House was due to reconvene on Tuesday of next week.
But Trump grounded her in a letter, regardless, that said he was taking the extraordinary step of postponing her trip.
“Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven-day excursion when the Shutdown is over.
“In light of the 800,000 great American workers not receiving pay, I am sure you would agree that postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate. I also feel that, during this period, it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the Shutdown.
He added, “Obviously, if you would like to make your journey by flying commercial, that would certainly be your prerogative.”
“I look forward to seeing you soon and even more forward to watching our open and dangerous Southern Border finally receive the attention, funding, and security it so desperately deserves!”
Hammill clarified in tweets that Pelosi was never planning to travel to Egypt.
Her trip was to Afghanistan by way of Brussels on a military aircraft.
Flying to Afghanistan commercially is possible via Istanbul and Dubai from Washington, D.C.
But it wouldn’t be safe for Pelosi, third in line to the presidency, to go there now.