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Nancy Pelosi reverses her decision on Trump's State of the Union speech
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Nancy Pelosi reverses her decision on Trump's State of the Union speech

Was this part of some negotiation behind the scenes?

In an abrupt change of heart, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced that the House of Representatives would invite President Donald Trump to give his State of the Union address.

Pelosi began a firestorm of controversy after she released a letter asking the president to postpone the State of the Union address while the government was partially shutdown.

The Speaker cited national security concerns for postponing the speech, which were immediately debunked by many experts including CNN's Phil Mudd.

The president responded by canceling a trip planned by Pelosi and other Democratic lawmakers. After that, she formally said the House would not be inviting him to make his speech until after the government shutdown ended.

On Friday, Trump announced that they had reached a deal to fund the government for three weeks without funding for his border wall. Pelosi has apparently relented about the State of the Union because the shutdown ended.

In a letter posted to Twitter from the Speaker's chief of staff Drew Hammill on Monday, she formally invited the president to give his address before Congress.

"When I wrote to you on January 23rd," Pelosi wrote. "I stated that we should work together to find a mutually agreeable date when government has reopened to schedule this year's State of the Union address."

The letter indicated that Pelosi and the president agreed to have him give the address on February 5, and she formally invited him to do so.

Trump accepted the invitation in a statement on Monday.

"It is my great honor to accept," the president said in the statement. "We have a great story to tell and yet, great goals to achieve!"

The president has been hinting at the possibility of declaring a national emergency in order to use emergency powers to order the military to begin construction on his border wall without the approval of Congress.

Here's the latest on the government shutdown:

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