Trump says Pelosi was 'actually reasonable,' so he agreed to delay SOTU until after shutdown

After weeks of escalating tensions between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the border wall and government shutdown, Trump offered a rare positive word about Pelosi when explaining why he ultimately decided to delay the State of the Union address, according to The Hill.

"It's really her choice," Trump said of the decision Thursday. "I would have done it in a different location but I think that would be very disrespectful to the State of the Union to pick some other place.

"What she said, I thought, was actually reasonable. We'll have the State of the Union when the shutdown's over," Trump concluded.

How did we get here?

On Jan. 3, Pelosi invited Trump to deliver the State of the Union at the House. The shutdown had already started at the time of that invitation. Trump accepted that invitation.

On Jan. 16, Pelosi sent another letter to Trump citing security concerns stemming from the shutdown and requesting that Trump delay the speech until the government reopened.

On Jan. 23, Trump wrote Pelosi dismissing those security concerns, saying the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security assured him there would be no security issues.

"I look forward to seeing you on the evening of January 29th in the Chamber of the House of Representatives," Trump wrote.

Later that day, Pelosi replied saying she would not allow the speech to be held at the House until the government was reopened. At that point, Trump reportedly began considering alternative locations for the speech.

Wednesday night, Trump admitted that it was "her prerogative" to delay the speech, and agreed to do it when the shutdown ends.

"I am not looking for an alternative venue for the SOTU address because there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber," Trump wrote on Twitter.

So when will we get the speech?

Nobody knows. Congress is still gridlocked over how to proceed to fund border security or open the government. Maybe we should just go back to having a written State of the Union sent to Congress.