U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at a healthcare roundtable in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 23, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would do an alternative event to the traditional State of the Union address before the U.S. Congress after House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent him a letter that her chamber would not sign off on the annual speech during the partial government shutdown.

“It’s a disgrace,” Trump said of Pelosi’s decision to block the address, initially scheduled for next Tuesday, during a White House meeting on border security.