President Trump Cancels Nancy Pelosi Foreign Trip Citing Shutdown

US President Donald Trump has postponed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's upcoming trip to Brussels and Afghanistan, asking her to stay to negotiate an end to the partial US government shutdown.

The president was able to halt the trip by denying the use of military aircraft to Mrs Pelosi and a delegation.

On Wednesday Mrs Pelosi had urged Mr Trump to postpone his State of the Union address, amid political deadlock.

Mr Trump's move came on the 27th day of the US's longest-ever federal shutdown.
The Republican president wants $5.7bn (£4.4bn) of congressional funding to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, but Democrats have refused.

Mr Trump's cancellation of the trip emerged less than an hour before the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives was scheduled to leave on Thursday afternoon, US media say.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders shared the president's letter in a tweet.

"I also feel that, during this period, it would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me and joining the Strong Border Security movement to end the Shutdown,"

Mr Trump wrote.