Trump Calls Pelosi a ‘Mess,’ Suggests Speaker Lied About Meeting
“Let’s face it, she doesn’t understand it,” Trump said.
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump called Nancy Pelosi “a mess” and “crazy,” alleged she mischaracterized his behavior in a White House meeting and said she doesn’t understand a trade deal with Canada and Mexico, escalating his feud with the House speaker.
“Let’s face it, she doesn’t understand it,” Trump said Thursday, referring to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a deal his administration reached to replace Nafta. “She’s got to get up to snuff.”
He repeatedly said Pelosi was a “mess,” called her “crazy Nancy” and said: “she’s lost it.” In an impromptu news conference after announcing new aid for U.S. farmers hurt by his trade war, Trump went around the room calling on aides to verify that he was “extremely calm” during a meeting with Pelosi and other Democrats on Wednesday.
His adviser Kellyanne Conway said that Pelosi’s claim Trump threw a “temper tantrum” at the meeting was “just a lie.”
Trump walked out of Wednesday’s White House meeting, where he was supposed to discuss a bipartisan infrastructure plan with the Democrats, after growing angry at Pelosi’s claim earlier in the day that he had perpetrated a “cover-up” to evade House investigations of his administration and businesses. The president told reporters afterward that he wouldn’t negotiate with Democrats on any policies as long as they continued investigations stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
“What happened in the White House would make your jaw drop,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat at the meeting, said afterward. “I pray for the president of the United States,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi held a news conference earlier on Thursday where she further discussed the incident and suggested Trump’s family or aides should hold an “intervention” with the president or that he should “take a leave of absence.” Asked about her remarks at the event with farmers, Trump lashed out at the House speaker.
It was “sort of a nasty-type statement,” Trump said. “She said I walked into the room right next door and walked in and started screaming and yelling. Just the opposite. I was so calm. I was extremely calm.”
While talking about his replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement, he remarked, “I haven’t changed very much. Been very consistent. I’m an extremely stable genius.”
In addition to Conway, Trump called on a communications aide who was present for the meeting, Mercedes Schlapp. “You were very calm and you were very direct,” she said.
Pelosi responded in a tweet.
“Their whole focus is on 2020 and trying to demean the Republican Party or demean the president of the United States,” Trump said of the Democrats.
Pelosi said at her news conference that the House is “not on the path to impeachment,” though she said some of Trump’s actions may be impeachable offenses.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alyza Sebenius in Washington at asebenius@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu
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