quote:

President Trump abruptly blew up a scheduled meeting with Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday, lashing out at Speaker Nancy Pelosi for accusing him of a cover-up and declaring that he could not work with them until they stopped investigating him.

He then marched out into the Rose Garden, where reporters had been gathered, and delivered a statement bristling with anger as he demanded that Democrats “get these phony investigations over with.” He said they could not legislate and investigate at the same time. “We’re going to go down one track at a time,” he said.

The confrontation came on a day when pressure over a possible impeachment effort raised temperatures on both sides of the aisle. Ms. Pelosi arrived at the White House for a session with the president set to talk about infrastructure shortly after meeting with restive House Democrats on Capitol Hill to talk about impeachment. She emerged from that meeting with Democrats accusing Mr. Trump of a “cover-up.”

When she and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, arrived at the White House, Mr. Trump was loaded for bear. He walked into the Cabinet Room and did not shake anyone’s hand or sit in his seat, according to a Democrat informed about the meeting. He said that he wanted to advance legislation on infrastructure, trade and other matters, but that Ms. Pelosi had said something “terrible” by accusing him of a cover-up, according to the Democrat.

After just three minutes, he left the room before anyone else could speak, the Democrat said. From there, he headed to the Rose Garden, where a lectern had been set up with a sign that said “No Collusion, No Obstruction” and gave statistics intended to show that he had cooperated with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III.

“Instead of walking in happily into a meeting, I walk in to look at people that have just said that I was doing a cover-up,” Mr. Trump said. “I don’t do cover-ups.”

“I walked into the room and I told Senator Schumer, Speaker Pelosi: ‘I want to do infrastructure. I want to do it more than you want to do it. I’d be really good at that, that’s what I do. But you know what? You can’t do it under these circumstances. So get these phony investigations over with,’” he said.

The Democratic leaders returned to Capitol Hill and expressed disappointment, saying they were ready to make a deal with the president on a $2 trillion plan to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, airports and other infrastructure.

“He just took a pass and it just makes me wonder why he did that,” Ms. Pelosi said. “In any event, I pray for the president and I pray for the United States of America.”

Mr. Schumer expressed shock at the outcome. “What happened in the White House would make your jaw drop,” he said.

Mr. Schumer said Mr. Trump’s eruption was hardly spontaneous, noting the preprinted sign on the lectern he used afterward to speak with reporters. Instead, he suggested the president staged it because he had not come up with a way to pay for such an enormous spending package.

“Hello! There were investigations going on three weeks ago when we met, and he still met with us,” Mr. Schumer said. “But now, when he was forced to say how he would pay for it, he ran away. And he came up with this preplanned excuse.”

The blowup was reminiscent of a meeting in January when Mr. Trump erupted at Ms. Pelosi during the partial government shutdown as he sought money for his promised border wall. After she refused to go along, he snapped, “bye-bye” and stormed out.

quote:

Mr. Schumer said Mr. Trump’s eruption was hardly spontaneous, noting the preprinted sign on the lectern he used afterward to speak with reporters.

quote:

Mr. Schumer said Mr. Trump’s eruption was hardly spontaneous, noting the preprinted sign on the lectern he used afterward to speak with reporters.

quote:

President Donald Trump repeatedly called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "crazy," said former FBI Director James Comey and former acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, were guilty of treason, and declined to commit to raising the nation's debt ceiling during a sprawling interaction with reporters at the White House on Thursday....

On Thursday, he took issue with Pelosi's characterization of his abrupt departure from the room, saying he kept his cool.

"I was so calm," he said. "Cryin' Chuck, Crazy Nancy — I tell you what, I've been watching her. I have been watching her for a long period of time. She is not the same person. She has lost it."

Pelosi quickly fired back.

"When the 'extremely stable genius' starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues," she wrote on Twitter.

quote:

President Donald Trump again bashed former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as “dumb as a rock” on Thursday, charging that he was “totally ill prepared and ill equipped” to become America’s top diplomat.

“Rex Tillerson, a man who is 'dumb as a rock' and totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State, made up a story (he got fired) that I was out-prepared by Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Hamburg, Germany,” the president tweeted. “I don’t think Putin would agree. Look how the U.S. is doing!”

The president’s outburst on social media follows a report from The Washington Post that Tillerson met for seven hours Tuesday with members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and told the lawmakers that Trump was less prepped than Russian President Vladimir Putin for a 2017 session in Hamburg, Germany.

In a statement to the Post, Trump said that he “was perfectly prepared for my meetings” with Putin, adding: “We did very well at those meetings.”

Trump previously lashed out at Tillerson on Twitter in December 2018, after the former ExxonMobil chief described him as "pretty undisciplined" to CBS News, and told attendees of a Houston fundraiser that the president would sometimes order directives that violated the law.

“Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him,” Trump wrote online last year of Tillerson’s successor at the State Department.

“His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!”

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
He is totally unraveling. This is getting more than a little scary.

quote:

President Donald Trump repeatedly called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "crazy," said former FBI Director James Comey and former acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, were guilty of treason, and declined to commit to raising the nation's debt ceiling during a sprawling interaction with reporters at the White House on Thursday....

On Thursday, he took issue with Pelosi's characterization of his abrupt departure from the room, saying he kept his cool.

"I was so calm," he said. "Cryin' Chuck, Crazy Nancy — I tell you what, I've been watching her. I have been watching her for a long period of time. She is not the same person. She has lost it."

Pelosi quickly fired back.

"When the 'extremely stable genius' starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues," she wrote on Twitter.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politi...-conference-n1009486

quote:

President Donald Trump again bashed former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as “dumb as a rock” on Thursday, charging that he was “totally ill prepared and ill equipped” to become America’s top diplomat.

“Rex Tillerson, a man who is 'dumb as a rock' and totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State, made up a story (he got fired) that I was out-prepared by Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Hamburg, Germany,” the president tweeted. “I don’t think Putin would agree. Look how the U.S. is doing!”

The president’s outburst on social media follows a report from The Washington Post that Tillerson met for seven hours Tuesday with members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and told the lawmakers that Trump was less prepped than Russian President Vladimir Putin for a 2017 session in Hamburg, Germany.

In a statement to the Post, Trump said that he “was perfectly prepared for my meetings” with Putin, adding: “We did very well at those meetings.”

Trump previously lashed out at Tillerson on Twitter in December 2018, after the former ExxonMobil chief described him as "pretty undisciplined" to CBS News, and told attendees of a Houston fundraiser that the president would sometimes order directives that violated the law.

“Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him,” Trump wrote online last year of Tillerson’s successor at the State Department.

“His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!”

https://www.politico.eu/articl...p-trashes-tillerson/

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
He is totally unraveling. This is getting more than a little scary.

quote:

President Donald Trump repeatedly called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "crazy," said former FBI Director James Comey and former acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe, were guilty of treason, and declined to commit to raising the nation's debt ceiling during a sprawling interaction with reporters at the White House on Thursday....

On Thursday, he took issue with Pelosi's characterization of his abrupt departure from the room, saying he kept his cool.

"I was so calm," he said. "Cryin' Chuck, Crazy Nancy — I tell you what, I've been watching her. I have been watching her for a long period of time. She is not the same person. She has lost it."

Pelosi quickly fired back.

"When the 'extremely stable genius' starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues," she wrote on Twitter.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politi...-conference-n1009486

quote:

President Donald Trump again bashed former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as “dumb as a rock” on Thursday, charging that he was “totally ill prepared and ill equipped” to become America’s top diplomat.

“Rex Tillerson, a man who is 'dumb as a rock' and totally ill prepared and ill equipped to be Secretary of State, made up a story (he got fired) that I was out-prepared by Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Hamburg, Germany,” the president tweeted. “I don’t think Putin would agree. Look how the U.S. is doing!”

The president’s outburst on social media follows a report from The Washington Post that Tillerson met for seven hours Tuesday with members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and told the lawmakers that Trump was less prepped than Russian President Vladimir Putin for a 2017 session in Hamburg, Germany.

In a statement to the Post, Trump said that he “was perfectly prepared for my meetings” with Putin, adding: “We did very well at those meetings.”

Trump previously lashed out at Tillerson on Twitter in December 2018, after the former ExxonMobil chief described him as "pretty undisciplined" to CBS News, and told attendees of a Houston fundraiser that the president would sometimes order directives that violated the law.

“Mike Pompeo is doing a great job, I am very proud of him,” Trump wrote online last year of Tillerson’s successor at the State Department.

“His predecessor, Rex Tillerson, didn’t have the mental capacity needed. He was dumb as a rock and I couldn’t get rid of him fast enough. He was lazy as hell. Now it is a whole new ballgame, great spirit at State!”

https://www.politico.eu/articl...p-trashes-tillerson/