Pelosi invites Trump to deliver State of the Union Address on Jan 29

Newly elected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has invited President Donald Trump to deliver his second annual State of the Union Address to a joint session of the US Congress on January 29.

The annual State of the Union address is the keynote prime time speech by the president to the Congress in which he sets out his legislative agenda and national priorities for the next year and highlights his achievements to the American people.

A formal invitation to the President on Thursday was one of her first few acts by Pelosi after she was elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

"The Constitution established the legislative, executive and judicial branches as co-equal branches of government, to be a check and balance on each other.

The Constitution also calls for the President to "from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union", she said in the letter, in a not-so-subtle nod at the new power dynamics.

"In the spirit of our Constitution, I invite you to deliver your State of the Union address before a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 in the House Chamber," Pelosi said.

The speech will be Trump's third to a Joint Session of Congress his initial appearance, on February 28, 2017, was weeks after his inauguration and not considered a formal State of the Union and his first time in a newly divided Washington where Democrats control the House of Representatives.