President Donald will deliver his State of the Union speech to the nation on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, at 9 p.m. ET. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had invited Trump to give his State of the Union address in the House chambers on that date after he decided to re-open the government for three weeks.
During the shutdown, both Pelosi and Trump went back-and-forth on when the address would take place, and where. When the government re-opened, Trump's director of strategic communications said that the two politicians were working on a date.
Prior to declaring a three-week, temporary end to the government shutdown, the president listened to Pelosi, who previously instructed him to postpone the speech until the reopening of the government.
“As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address. I agreed,” Trump tweeted Thursday. “She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative—I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”
The president's giving in to Pelosi’s order is a big deal for a man who said he was sure that holding the address during the shutdown was a fight he could “win.”
The back-and-forth heated up last Wednesday, when the commander-in-chief released a letter rejecting Pelosi’s call for him to postpone the address, claiming he would still give the speech before Congress on Jan. 29.
“On time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!” he tweeted.
Trump also insisted that security concerns would not be an issue, though it was reported that the Secret Service would not be able to perform safety walkthroughs during the address in the Capitol building while the government is shut down.
Keeping up with the push-pull gridlock that has kept the government shut down to begin with, Pelosi said Wednesday that she would not authorize the president’s speech in the House chamber. Instead, she suggested Trump give the speech in writing or from the Oval Office.
According to the Associated Press, Ronald Reagan’s 1986 State of the Union was the last presidential address to be postponed, due to the Challenger explosion.
Trump’s last State of the Union was also surrounded by controversy, after the president faced a backlash from House Democrats over his infamous “shithole” comments.
Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), John Lewis (D-GA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Frederica Wilson (D-FL) all boycotted the event.
This year, Former Georgia House Democratic Leader Stacy Abrams will give the Democratic response to the address.
When is the State of the Union address?
Tuesday, February 5, 2019, at 9 p.m. ET.
What time is the State of the Union address?
The address will broadcast and stream starting at 9 p.m. ET.
How can I watch the State of the Union?
Broadcast: You can watch the event through your cable providers on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, and Telemundo networks.
Online: You can livestream the event through C-SPAN. CBS and The New York Times will also have a livestream available at 5 p.m. ET the night of as well as CNN who will livestream without requiring a cable log-in.
The State of the Union will also be translated into Spanish and livestreamed on NoticiasTelemundo.com and Noticias Telemundo’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts, according to a Telemundo rep.