The Smackdown

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi informed Donald Trump today that his State of the Union speech scheduled for the end of this month would have to be postponed or cancelled outright because of the President's government shutdown (details here and here). If he was unable to give a speech, he would satisfy his constitutional requirements by submitting a report in writing.

On its face, this might simply seem like procedural housekeeping to the uninitiated. But the reality is much more impressive. Pelosi has delivered a brutal, humiliating smackdown to Trump, who loves nothing more than to appear live before an adoring crowd. He also loves the ceremonial trappings of the presidency, and the State of the Union is one of the most widely recognized of those.

Current reporting also reveals that Trump had planned to use the State of the Union as a stump speech to rail against Democrats who won't let him have his way with his pointless wall. But now that's off.

Symbolically, Pelosi's move serves as a powerful reminder to Trump that the days of an adoring, compliant Congress are over for him. There are three equal branches of government, per the Constitution. He heads one of those branches, but she co-leads one of the other three.

Pelosi is not an attention whore like Trump and works mostly in the background. But she's served notice she won't be a compliant doormat like GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. When she needs to flex her muscle, she can deliver a powerful, humiliating blow. And there's nothing Trump can do about it.

So far in the President's government shutdown, Pelosi has run the table. Poll after poll after poll shows a clear majority of Americans are behind her and not Trump on this issue. The longer he forces it to drag on, the greater the damage to his standing.