Trump says he\'ll wait to do State of the Union

President Donald Trump says he's not looking for an alternative venue for the State of the Union.

He made the comments in a late-night tweet on Wednesday (January 24) saying he'll wait until the partial government shutdown is over before making the speech.

He said, "there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House chamber".

That's a swift reversal from what he said earlier, when he claimed he would look for a new venue after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told him he was no longer invited to use the House chamber because of the shutdown.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING: "I would say this.

The State of the Union speech has been cancelled by Nancy Pelosi, because she doesn't want to hear the truth." This comes after a back and forth between the two on Wednesday, where the President appeared to find himself outmaneuvered in an exchange of letters with the Democratic House Leader.

Trump had written to Pelosi saying he looked forward to seeing her in the House of Representatives next week, adding, "it would be very sad for out Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!" Pelosi returned an unequivocal reply: The House would not vote on a resolution to host the State of the Union until a partial government shutdown is resolved.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, SAYING: "We do not support the president holding the health, safety, and paychecks of the American people hostage to a campaign applause line." It's an unprecedented move and a brazen assertion of congressional power, in the midst of a record-long government shutdown.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING: "I don't believe it's ever happened before, and it's always good to be part of history, but this is a very negative part of history." Pelosi last week said hosting the sizable event in the House chamber would be an undue hardship on the agents of the Secret Service, who are working without pay.

She suggested rescheduling the address.

SOUNDBITE (English) HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: "This date of the State of the Union is not a sacred date." Trump last week denied Pelosi the use of military aircraft for a trip to meet troops in Afghanistan just before she was set to depart.

The White House said the move was unrelated to the State of the Union standoff, but the administration derided Pelosi's justifications for delaying the speech.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY SARAH SANDERS, SAYING: (TUESDAY) "She cited security concerns as a potential reason to delay it.

Those concerns were addressed by the Department of Homeland Security and the United States Secret Service." The partial government shutdown has now lasted more than a month and has affected 800,000 federal workers.