Trump Can Give the ‘State of the Union’ In Writing

Jeff Greenfield: “The Constitution does require the president to report ‘Information of the State of the Union’ to Congress, but there’s no requirement that it be a speech — it was delivered in writing until Woodrow Wilson showed up in person in 1913 — and we’ve long passed the time when it contained any useful ‘information’ at all.”

“So maybe Pelosi has done all of us—including the president—a favor by postponing (if not canceling) an address that this year promises to be even more of a sham than usual. And maybe, given the dreary ritual that such speeches offer, Trump might want to take the unsolicited advice I offered a year ago: Return to the tradition established by Thomas Jefferson, have everyone stay home, and just deliver the thing in writing.”