House Speaker-delegate Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) raises the gavel after being elected as House Speaker as the U.S. House of Representatives meets for the start of the 116th Congress inside the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 3, 2019.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday sent a letter to President Donald Trump inviting him to deliver the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Jan. 29.

Pelosi, a Democrat, sent the letter to the Republican president hours after being elected speaker of the House as the U.S. government was in the 13th day of a partial shutdown over Trump's demand for $5 billion for a border wall.

"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 in the letter. "I look forward to welcoming you to the Congress."