President Donald Trump plans to boycott an annual bipartisan St. Patrick's Day lunch and the White House has blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for the move.
The Irish Times reported that Trump had decided not to attend the event because of "ongoing tensions" with Pelosi. The Speaker hosts the annual event and presidents have traditionally attended.
"Since the Speaker has chosen to tear this Nation apart with her actions and her rhetoric, the President will not participate in moments where she so often chooses to drive discord and disunity," a White House official told Politico.
Playbook this am: TRUMP is skipping the annual capitol St Patrick’s day lunch pic.twitter.com/HGZF32ZXYb
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 8, 2020
/2 Trump is doing this as a snub of Pelosi (who is Italian-American, fwiw.) Trump will host Irish PM Leo Varadkar at White House on Thursday
— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) March 8, 2020
Trump to skip bipartisan St. Patrick's Day lunch on the Hill. "Since the Speaker has chosen to tear this Nation apart with her actions and her rhetoric, the President will not participate in moments where she so often chooses to drive discord and disunity," WH tells @playbookplus
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) March 8, 2020
Trump will skip the annual St Patrick’s Day lunch hosted by Pelosi in the Capitol this Thursday, one of the oldest bipartisan functions, and will instead meet w/ Irish PM Leo Varadkar, the White House confirms.
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) March 8, 2020
Even the annual Speaker’s bipartisan St Patrick’s Day lunch attended by the President falls victim to DC’s toxic politics: @realDonaldTrump announces he will not attend. I think this is a first.
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) March 8, 2020
