AFGHANISTAN/CONGRESS/MILITARY/NANCY PELOSI/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A bus emblazoned with the United States Air Force logo was idling outside the Capitol on Thursday [1-17-19], members of Congress on board, ready to depart for Joint Base Andrews and a waiting military aircraft. Inside, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in her office making final preparations to lead the congressional delegation on a secret visit to American troops in Afghanistan with a stop in Brussels. Then came word from the White House: President Trump was grounding their plane and killing the trip. Mr. Trump’s decision to upend Ms. Pelosi’s travel plans was a remarkable bit of one-upmanship in an increasingly bitter government shutdown drama in which Mr. Trump and Ms. Pelosi, the newly elected Democratic speaker, are the main antagonists. The day before, Ms. Pelosi had suggested that the president cancel or delay his State of the Union address this month, citing security concerns amid a prolonged partial shutdown that has forced thousands of federal employees to work without pay. Mr. Trump at first said nothing, but 24 hours later, without mentioning her request, the president released a sarcasm-tinged letter in which he told her the trip was off.”
–Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Annie Karni and Nicholas Fandos, “Trump Hits Back at Pelosi, Upending Her Trip to See Troops,” The New York Times online, January 17, 2019