“White House officials were caught off guard Wednesday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally disinviting President Trump from giving his State of the Union address from the House chamber, leaving them scrambling for a response,” CNN reports.

“White House officials had believed Pelosi wanted only to postpone Trump’s State of the Union for political reasons after she sent a letter to him last week asking him to delay the address until after the partial government shutdown ended. The plan from administration officials was to call her bluff by pressing forward with plans to deliver the speech, including a new letter on Wednesday that they hoped would force her hand.”

“Now they’re left exploring alternative venues.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said in a letter to President Trump that the House will not consider a concurrent resolution authorizing the president’s address in the House chamber until the government has opened, the Washington Post reports.

Pelosi’s response came shortly after President Trump said he would show up at the House for the prime-time speech on Tuesday.

Back at the White House, the New York Times reports Trump offered a quick retort, telling reporters: “I’m not surprised. It’s really a shame what’s happening with the Democrats. They’ve become radicalized.”

President Trump retaliated against Speaker Nancy Pelosi for threatening to cancel his planned State of the Union address on Jan. 29, writing in a letter that he, in turn, was postponing her planned trip abroad, calling it a “public relations event,” the New York Times reports.

Wrote Trump: “I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt and Afghanistan has been postponed. We will reschedule this seven day excursion when the shutdown is over.”

“Presumably, the president is refusing to provide military transport that is traditionally provided to the House speaker or congressional delegations. In the letter, tinged with sarcasm, he wrote that she could still take the trip if she chose to fly commercial.”

Playbook: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t be changing her flying habits now that she has regained the speaker’s gavel. The California Democrat ‘intends to travel commercially,’ according to her deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill. The speaker can make use of an Air Force jet to travel around the country given she is second in line to the presidency.”

First Read: “And if you want to know why the shutdown pressure is on McConnell, just look at how Trump has unified House Democrats. The drama of whether or not Nancy Pelosi was going to get the votes she needed to be speaker ended the moment after last month’s Oval Office meeting with Trump.”

“And, of course, Pelosi got the votes she needed on Thursday.”

“Trump has done more to help Pelosi — and unify Democrats — than anyone out there.”

House Democrats are “absolutely” united behind presumed incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) said, putting the caucus in line behind the longtime Democratic leader as she prepares to face off against President Trump on ending an ongoing government shutdown, Politico reports.

Said Ryan: “I don’t think anyone at any point questioned her ability to negotiate, for her to be in rooms like the one she’s going to be in today, like the one she was in last week, and be as effective as anybody else in our caucus or in our party.”

Politico: “His decision so far not to go after Pelosi personally, even as his top aides have blamed her for the shutdown, hasn’t gone unnoticed in the Capitol. Pelosi’s allies have viewed Trump’s restraint toward the incoming speaker as a sign that he’s looking beyond the shutdown in the hopes of notching some bipartisan wins this year — on infrastructure, perhaps, or prescription drug pricing.”

“Of course, Trump’s tone toward Pelosi could change on a dime given his penchant for pummeling adversaries and the likelihood Pelosi will refuse his demand for billions in border wall funding. But the relative peace between the chief lightning rods of their respective parties, at least to this point, is pretty remarkable.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “is on the verge of a deal with Democratic rebels once intent on denying her the speakership, an accord that could deliver her the decisive votes needed to reclaim the gavel,” Politico reports.

“The California Democrat and some of her fiercest party critics have tentatively agreed to limit her speakership to four years at most… In return, several lawmakers who had vowed publicly to vote against Pelosi on the House floor in a critical Jan. 3 roll call, will instead back her ascent to the position she held eight years ago.”

Said one source: “It’s pretty much done. The issue is how do we wrap this up. What are the procedural steps that we need to get this done?”

“Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and a group of House Democratic rebels are discussing a proposal to cap her time as speaker to four years, a move that could clear the way for the California Democrat to clinch the gavel,” Politico reports.

“The plan would be a dramatic shift for the longtime Democratic leader. Pelosi has refused to put an end date on her tenure as she tries to reclaim the speakership ahead of a Jan. 3 floor vote.”

“Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and a group of House Democratic rebels are discussing a proposal to impose term limits on both party leaders and committee chairs,” Politico reports.

“Pelosi has been in private talks with a group of rank-and-file House Democrats, who have publicly opposed her bid to return to the speaker’s chair in the next Congress. Pelosi is looking to peel off a handful of those rebels, and allowing a term-limits proposal to move forward could be the price she pays for any such deal.”