State of the Union address: Donald Trump told he cannot deliver speech until Government shutdown ends

Donald Trump has been told he will not be allowed to deliver an annual State of the Union address in the House chamber until a partial government shutdown ends.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi informed the President of her stance on Wednesday.

In a letter to President Trump, she said: "I am writing to inform you that the House of Representatives will not consider a concurrent resolution authorising the president's State of the Union address in the House chamber until government has opened.

"Passage of such a resolution is required before the president can speak in the House."

The speech had been set for January 29, she added: "I look forward to welcoming you to the House on a mutually agreeable date for this address when government has been opened."

President Trump has since said he is not surprised by the situation and said will be doing his own "alternative speech".

He said the cancellation was a "disgrace" but did not detail his next move.

When asked about Ms Pelosi's action during a health care event at the White House, and as the government shutdown extended into a second month, the President said: "This will go on for a while. Ultimately the American people will have their way because they want to see no crime."

He added that he was planning a "really important speech" and called Ms Pelosi's course of action a "great blotch on the country that we all love."

The move from Ms Pelosi comes just hours after President Trump told her that he was planning to deliver the speech next Tuesday in line with her original invitation.

Mr Trump, responding to her asking him to delay the speech, said in a letter: "It would be so very sad for our Country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!"

Mr Trump and Ms Pelosi remain locked in an increasingly personal standoff over Mr Trump's demand for border wall money.

The dispute has forced a partial government shutdown which is now in its second month and is the longest instance of its kind in history.

Ms Pelosi, as House Speaker, is second in line to the presidency after Vice-President Mike Pence.

The development has left the White House attempting to devise an alternative plan for the speech.

The annual address is one of the President's top opportunities to lay out his agenda to the public.