https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/426199-trump-says-hes-still-thinking-about-pelosis-request-to-postpone-statePresident Trump said early Sunday that he will respond "soon" to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) request to postpone the State of the Union address amid an escalating clash between the two leaders.
"Nancy, I am still thinking about the State of the Union speech, there are so many options - including doing it as per your written offer (made during the Shutdown, security is no problem), and my written acceptance," Trump tweeted.
"While a contract is a contract, I’ll get back to you soon!"
Trump had not previously addressed Pelosi's call to reschedule the State of the Union directly, though multiple reports indicated the White House was weighing alternative options, including delivering the speech in the Senate chamber.
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My fellow Americans.
The State of our Union is strong.
Every day, Customs and Border Patrol agents encounter thousands of illegal immigrants trying to enter our country. We are out of space to hold them, and we have no way to promptly return them back home to their country. All Americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration. It strains public resources and drives down jobs and wages. Among those hardest hit are African Americans and Hispanic Americans.
Last month, 20,000 migrant children were illegally brought into the United States — a dramatic increase. These children are used as human pawns by vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs. One in three women are sexually assaulted on the dangerous trek up through Mexico. In fact, many loving mothers give their young daughters birth control pills for the long journey up to the United States because they know they may be raped or sexually accosted or assaulted. Women and children are the biggest victims, by far, of our broken system.
Our southern border is a pipeline for vast quantities of illegal drugs, including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl. Every week, 300 of our citizens are killed by heroin alone, 90 percent of which floods across from our southern border. Drugs kill 78,000 Americans a year and cost our society in excess of $700 billion. More Americans will die from drugs this year than were killed in the entire Vietnam War.
In the last two years, ICE officers made 266,000 arrests of aliens with criminal records, including those charged or convicted of 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 violent killings. Over the years, thousands of Americans have been brutally killed by those who illegally entered our country, and thousands more lives will be lost if we don’t act right now.
The lack of border control provides a gateway -- and a very wide and open gateway -- for criminals and gang members to enter the United States, including the criminal aliens who murdered a brave California police officer only a day after Christmas.
Day after day, precious lives are cut short by those who have violated our borders. In California, an Air Force veteran was raped, murdered, and beaten to death with a hammer by an illegal alien with a long criminal history. In Georgia, an illegal alien was recently charged with murder for killing, beheading, and dismembering his neighbor. In Maryland, MS-13 gang members who arrived in the United States as unaccompanied minors were arrested and charged last year after viciously stabbing and beating a 16-year-old girl.
Over the last several years, I’ve met with dozens of families whose loved ones were stolen by illegal immigration. I’ve held the hands of the weeping mothers and embraced the grief-stricken fathers. So sad. So terrible. I will never forget the pain in their eyes, the tremble in their voices, and the sadness gripping their souls.
Democrats in Congress have refused to acknowledge the crisis. And they have refused to provide our brave border agents with the tools they desperately need to protect our families and our nation. The federal government remains shut down for one reason and one reason only: because Democrats will not fund border security. How much more American blood must we shed before Congress does its job?
Our immigration system has been badly broken for a very long time. Over the decades, many Presidents and many lawmakers have come and gone, and no real progress has been made on immigration. We are now living with the consequences -- and they are tragic -- brought about by decades of political stalemate, partisan gridlock, and national neglect.
Plus two more years since I was elected with a GOP controlled House and Senate.
That’s why I stand here confident that the State of our Union is strong.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
