Trump breaks with tradition, doesn’t wait for Pelosi to start speech
President Trump broke with tradition on Tuesday and didn’t wait for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to introduce him before delivering his State of the Union address.
The Speaker of the House typically makes an introduction once the president reaches the dais. That traditionally comes after the House sergeant-at-arms announces the president’s entrance into the House chamber.
Last year, for example, then-Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) formally introduced Trump before the president began speaking. But this time Trump launched right into his speech after shaking hands with Pelosi and Vice President Pence.{mosads}
Pelosi, after the speech, rejected the idea that Trump snubbed her or broke any kind of protocol ahead of the speech.
“What do you mean? I introduced him,” Pelosi told a handful of reporters as she left the Capitol. “I did introduce him. I said, ‘Members of Congress, I present you the president of the United States.’ There was no snub.”
“It went quickly, I guess.”
Pelosi and Trump have repeatedly clashed since she became Speaker last month.
Pelosi initially invited Trump to deliver the State of the Union in late January, but then requested that he postpone the address amid the partial government shutdown. Trump then moved to prevent Pelosi and other Democrats from traveling on a congressional delegation to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan.
Trump eventually relented on pushing to deliver the State of the Union on the originally planned date of Jan. 29. Pelosi later invited Trump to give the speech on Tuesday once the shutdown ended.
Mike Lillis contributed.
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