Trump Accepts Pelosi's Invitation

Impeachment or not, Nancy Pelosi has invited President Trump to visit the House to deliver his next State of the Union address. And Trump has accepted. Her letter was sent Friday, Politico reports. The invitation could imply that the speaker expects Trump to still be in office on Feb. 4, despite the House voting Wednesday to approve two articles of impeachment. Pelosi noted the built-in tension in her letter, saying, "In their great wisdom, our Founders crafted a Constitution based on a system of separation of powers: three co-equal branches acting as checks on each other." That requires the president to keep Congress informed, Pelosi wrote in a letter to Trump posted on the speaker's website.

A White House spokesman said Friday afternoon that the president will be there. The event could be awkward, NPR points out, if Trump's trial in the Senate is going on at the time. Last year's State of the Union had its own awkwardness, when Pelosi's reactions to Trump's speech received much attention. The speech had been postponed because of the partial government shutdown. There will be competing headlines this time, too: Feb. 4 is the day after the Iowa caucuses. (Pelosi has delayed sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate.)