OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 9:44 AM PT — Friday, January 17, 2019
President Trump is taking another dig at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after he postponed her three-country trip abroad due to the government shutdown.
In a tweet on Friday, the president questioned why Pelosi would want to leave the country when 800,00 federal employees are not getting paid. He also jokingly reassured the House speaker that foreigners will still be able to immigrate to the U.S. under his administration’s proposed reforms, and asked if someone could “explain to Nancy and her big donors in wine country that people working on farms will have easy access in!”
Why would Nancy Pelosi leave the Country with other Democrats on a seven day excursion when 800,000 great people are not getting paid. Also, could somebody please explain to Nancy & her “big donors” in wine country that people working on farms (grapes) will have easy access in!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2019
The tweet comes after President Trump prevented Pelosi from using a military plane to travel overseas for a seven-day excursion to Brussels, Afghanistan and Egypt just moments before she was set to depart.
In a letter addressed to the House speaker on Thursday, the president told her that her presence would be better served in Washington, where she can work with him to reach a deal on border security and end the shutdown. He told her if she still wanted to take the trip then she can fly commercial.
(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Pelosi was reportedly on the tarmac when she was informed about the news, while several Democrats were on a bus heading to Joint Base Andrews when they were forced to turn around.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff was one of the top ranking Democrat members that was expected to join Pelosi on the trip, and he didn’t appear to be too happy when he returned to Capitol Hill.
“We believe this is completely inappropriate by the president,” he told reporters. “We’re not going to allow the President of the United States to tell the Congress it can’t fulfill its oversight responsibilities and can’t ensure that our troops have what they need, whether our government is opened or closed.”
However, Pelosi is not the only one being targeted as the White House has announced all congressional trips overseas have been canceled indefinitely until the government reopens.
The president also announced he will no longer be sending a delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos out of respect for the federal workers.
Despite media speculation, the White House confirmed the president’s decision to postpone Pelosi’s trip was not a tit-for-tat move over her request for the president to postpone his State of the Union address.