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WASHINGTON – President Nancy Pelosi does not believe that President Trump can be removed by impeachment. The only way to do that, she said this week, is to defeat it in 2020 with a "margin" as big as it can dispute the legitimacy of a democratic victory. .
It's something she's worried about.
"We have to vaccinate against that, we have to prepare for it," Pelosi said during an interview on Capitol Hill Wednesday, as she was discussing her concern that Mr. Trump would give up not power voluntarily if he lost his reelection. by a slim margin next year.
Sitting in her office with panoramic views of the national shopping center, Ms. Pelosi – the de facto head of the Democratic Party until the nomination of a presidential candidate in 2020 – proposed to Democrats her plan "blood 'cold' to get rid of Mr Trump decisively: Do not get dragged into a lengthy impeachment procedure that will eventually be crushed by the Republican-controlled Senate, and do not risk alienating voters moderate who flocked to the party in 2018 by moving too far to the left.
"Owning the center on the left, owning the general public," said Ms. Pelosi, 79.
"Our passions were health care, higher wages, cleaner government – a simple message," Pelosi said of the 40-seat resumption of Democrats last year, which earned her second ascent to the presidency. "We have not engaged in some of the other experiences of our party" – a reference to the most ambitious plans advocated by his party's left wing and some of the 2020 candidates, including "Medicare for All" and the Green New Deal, which She refused to support.
Nearly five months after the start of her second term, Pelosi seems to assume her role as the only Democrat with the power to oppose Mr. Trump. Although she seems comfortable in the battle with him, her discomfort with the president's behavior has only intensified since the triumphal election of Democrats.
Few outside of Pelosi's inner circle were aware of Mr. Trump's concern to try to prevent the opposition party from taking control of the House unless the Democrats' victory was sufficient. strong to be indisputable.
"If we win four seats and a thousand votes each, it will not respect the elections," said Pelosi, recalling her thoughts for the pre-election election period of 2018.
"It would poison the public's mind. He would challenge every race; he would say that you can not have these people sit, "she added. "We had to win. Imagine if we did not win – oh, do not even imagine. So as we move forward, we need to take the same approach. "
In recent weeks, Pelosi told her staff that she does not automatically trust the president to respect the results of any election unless there is a crushing defeat. This point of view, nourished by Mr. Trump According to her, it is imperative not to play in the hands of the president, particularly in matters of indictment.
Over the past two weeks, Mr. Trump has increased pressure on Ms. Pelosi, reiterating her intention to prevent current and former officials, such as former White House lawyer Donald F. McGahn II , to testify before democratic committees. In the meantime, Attorney General William P. Barr's provocative testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee led Ms. Pelosi to declare that he had committed "a crime" by contradicting his earlier statements regarding interactions with the Special Counsel, Robert S Mueller III.
The president seems to be stimulated by the confrontation and considers the conforming majority of the Republican Senate – which probably will not condemn him if the Chamber initiates impeachment proceedings – constitutes an authorization to threaten the team of Ms. Pelosi, according to two people close to the thought of the president.
Ms. Pelosi remains determined to avoid dismissal, but it is clear that she loses patience. On Wednesday night, after focusing on the work of the House during the day, she viewed excerpts from Mr. Barr's testimony at his home in Georgetown, Washington.
She was furious that Mr. Barr had apparently contradicted an earlier statement, made before a House committee in April, that no one in Mr. Mueller's team had challenged the Attorney General's four-page summary of the findings. of the report. Mr. Barr's refusal to testify before the Judiciary Committee of the House only served to amplify the speaker's anger.
"When you look at Barr, you're just saying," How could he sell his soul – an alleged soul – to Donald Trump, "Pelosi told his whipping team early Thursday, according to detailed notes from a nobody from the room.
To have Mr. Barr as a political target is useful because it allows the Democrats to concentrate their indignation, for a time, on him rather than on the president. But more and more, in public and in private, Ms. Pelosi suggests that Trump's behavior is reaching the stage of impeachment, even if she considers that the process itself is too dangerous for Democrats.
The president remained curiously polite towards the speaker, even as the war between the branches intensified. Her portrayal of Ms. Pelosi is respectful – "tough" – and he told congressional allies that he respected Ms. Pelosi more than her predecessor, Paul D. Ryan, because of her ability to prevent MPs to be turned away from his caucus.
"Maybe he knows I'm praying for him," she shrugged. "I pray for his heart to be open to good things, to help people instead of taking babies out of their mothers' arms, for example."
Ms. Pelosi recounted Wednesday's conversation with scathing descriptions of Mr. Trump's ability to serve as president, thus challenging his "attention span" and "lack of knowledge of the topics being dealt with" during trading sessions – and claiming that his behavior was "degrading". "The country and" dishonor "the Constitution.
Pelosi laughed when asked how his father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., Democratic Mayor of Baltimore and a former Congressman known for his political harshness, reportedly interacted with Trump.
"Well, it would be like they spoke foreign languages," she said. "I do not think my father could have conceived of a president who would ignore his oath of office to the extent that this president does."
Ms. Pelosi also shared her thoughts on the field of expanding and expanding the democratic field of presidential candidates. Joseph R. Biden Jr. "left because people know him," she said. "They trust him."
When asked if Mr. Biden would pay a political price for having grilled Anita F. Hill at Justice Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings in 1991, Ms. Pelosi shook her head and waved her hand disdainfully.
More than anything, Ms. Pelosi focuses on implementing center-left policies that she believes will help her party in 2020 – focused on the pragmatic improvement of health care, access to the polls , government cleanliness, immigration and infrastructure, a strategy emphasizing the Trump victory politically without personally obsessing Mr. Trump.
In her mind, this means she is attacking initiatives that she hopes will contribute to the re-election of new members in the battlefield districts, even if that will likely produce results for Mr. Trump and anger some critics left.
Mr. Trump met this week with Ms. Pelosi and other Democratic leaders at the request of the speaker, and has agreed to work on a $ 2 trillion envelope to repair roads, bridges, sewage and water systems, thereby ensuring its commitment to expand broadband nationally and deliver in state the obsolete electricity network of the country.
"I like the number you used, Nancy – $ 2 trillion," said Trump, according to an assistant present at the White House for the meeting. "I will lead on this subject."
The interaction was cordial. At one point, the president took out a box of white ticks from his jacket and offered it to the speaker, who shook a couple.
Later in the evening, Mr. Trump telephoned Ms. Pelosi to remind her that he really wanted to reach an agreement, despite the likely opposition of many Senate Republicans and Mick Mulvaney, his chief of staff by interim.
Ms. Pelosi reiterated her request for Mr. Trump to provide him with a detailed plan on how to pay for it, and felt optimistic but uncertain that the President was willing to follow it.
"Well," said Ms. Pelosi, "it's a subject that holds the attention."
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