News

Actions

Trump turns down House invite to give speech in Lansing

Posted at 4:52 PM, Jan 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-22 16:52:59-05

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The leader of the Michigan House says President Donald Trump will not deliver his State of the Union address in Lansing.

Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican, tweeted Tuesday to thank Trump for a “great” phone conservation earlier in the day but said Trump has “other plans” for his speech.

Chatfield on Friday extended an invitation for Trump to speak at the state Capitol after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested that he delay the annual address because of the partial government shutdown.

Chatfield says he and Trump discussed Trump visiting Michigan again “soon.”

While Chatfield has said he invited Trump to show Michigan can ignore partisanship unlike Washington, D.C., Democrats say it was a “gimmick” and a “slap in the face” to federal workers not being paid during the shutdown.