"Extremely stable genius": Trump defends his mental well-being while diving into Pelosi



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White House

The speaker says that he needs an "intervention". The president says "she lost her".

By QUINT FORGEY and DANIEL LIPPMAN

Update


Washington's political chaos fell into the shambles on Thursday when the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the United States accused each other of suffering mental disorders.

Turning away an afternoon of the White House with American farmers and leaders of the agricultural industry, President Donald Trump has asked his key aides to publicly announce that he was "calm" at a disastrous meeting with Democratic leaders the day before.

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"I'm watching her. I look at it for a long time. She is not the same person. She lost it, "Trump said of President Nancy Pelosi, moments after announcing $ 16 billion in federal aid to producers hard hit by the US-China trade dispute.

In a remarkable scene, the president conducted a name check of senior White House officials and councilors in the Roosevelt Room, which he said had attended Wednesday's session on defense initiatives. Infrastructure with the biggest congressional Democrats – that Trump gave up after stating that lawmakers could not negotiate simultaneously while investigating and threatening to remove him.

"Kellyanne, what was my temper yesterday?" Asked Trump at White House Councilor Kellyanne Conway.

"Very calm, no attempt at fraud," she replied before criticizing the coverage of the meeting by the journalists, which Trump complains about, portraying him with a "story of rage."

"The whole Democratic Party is very messed up. They never recovered from the big election of 2016 – an election I think you liked a lot, is not it? Trump said, addressing the farmers next to his lectern. "Well, Nancy Pelosi was not happy about that, and she's messy."

Even the families of the leaders were not spared from sniping and accusations of poor physical well-being. Christine Pelosi, the president's daughter, tried to defend her mother on Twitter earlier on Thursday, commenting on a Washington Post story about how a conservative Facebook page had posted a trafficked video of the California Democrat in which she seemed to be blurring words.

"Republicans and their conservative allies are pumping this despicable scam for years now, they are caught," Christine Pelosi write online. "#FactCheck: Madam President does not even drink alcohol!"

Pelosi herself summoned Thursday the president's wife and children to question Trump's ability to perform his duties, telling reporters on Capitol Hill: "I wish his family, his administration or its staff intervene for the good of the country ".

At that same press conference, the speaker asked if Trump was really responsible for his White House and seemed to be jokingly referring to the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, which allows the Cabinet to revoke a president. he can not perform his duties.

This is the White House reporter's question about Pelosi's "intervention" remark – which Trump called "a nasty statement" – that put the president on the defensive on Thursday. He began to turn to employees such as Mercedes Schlapp, the director of strategic communications for the White House, and put pressure on them to get direct reports of his scuttled meeting with Democrats.

"You were very calm and very direct, and you sent a very firm message to the speaker and the Democrats," Schlapp said.

Larry Kudlow, Trump's chief economic advisor, said the president's talk with the Democrats was "much quieter than some of our business meetings," followed by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. who called the president's behavior "very calm and simple and clear."

But the commander's greatest eulogy comes from Trump himself, who told media members gathered at a non-sequitur evening: "I am an extremely stable genius. D & # 39; AGREEMENT "?

A few minutes after the end of the event, Pelosi had already returned a replica of the official Twitter account of the speaker.

"When the" extremely stable "genius will begin to act in a more presidential manner," she write online"I will be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues."

The bizarre exchange of insults between the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue comes as President Pelosi was under increasing pressure to ask him to pursue an imputation investigation of the president's behavior.

At an in camera meeting Thursday morning with fellow Democrats, Pelosi claimed that Trump "wanted to be deposed" by the House in order to win a victory in a Senate trial, controlled by a Republican majority in good health.

Close associates and Republicans close to the president, questioned in recent weeks, dispute the idea that Trump welcomes the dismissal. But with debates over Washington and Trump's impeachment seeming to spur Democrats to move in this direction, the president could take the threat more seriously now.

"In the past, he always denied the idea of ​​impeachment and he always thought they were not really serious about it," said a Republican close to the White House who discussed the issue with Trump . "It's a kind of game they put in place. Even the media said, "They need me, I'm the biggest star in their history and I help the New York Times, MSNBC and CNN."

A former senior White House official said Trump did not want to be attacked "in his heart" but "the specter of [impeachment] creates the value of production that is so important to him. "

The fights with the Democrats "create the diametrical choice between us and them," added the former head. That's why he participates in these gatherings. That is what motivates its base, that's what motivates it and it "produces" the presidency. "

Trump also sees the impeachment as a political means to weigh against the newly expanded Pelosi caucus. This person said, "He thinks it's going to tear the Democrats apart because some people want to [impeach] and some no. "

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