Donald Trump had a “meltdown” during a meeting with senior lawmakers, advisors and officials, at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, according to Nancy Pelosi.
Earlier, the House overwhelmingly passed a measure i) condemning the president’s decision in Syria, ii) calling on Recep Tayyip Erdogan to halt his offensive, which has targeted America’s former Kurdish allies and iii) calling on the US to support the Kurds in the face of the Turkish military’s bloody cross-border incursion. The vote was 354-60. A majority of Republicans supported it.
The president spent a good part of Wednesday defending his decision to pull a relative handful of US special operators away from YPG positions last week. The move opened the door (quite literally) for Erdogan’s long-threatened operation.
Read more: Trump Says Kurds Are ‘No Angels’
According to Pelosi, she and other Democratic leaders had to leave the meeting with a “shaken up” Trump, who apparently suffered some manner of emotional lapse.
“I think the president was very shaken up” by the number of Republicans who voted for the measure, Pelosi told the press, adding that Trump was “just not relating to the reality of it”.
“It was like a meltdown”, the Speaker marveled.
For his part, Chuck Schumer said he asked the president what the administration’s plan is to contain any ISIS prisoners who might escape. “He didn’t really have one”, Schumer remarked.
According to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Trump was “very offensive”. At one point, he called Pelosi a “third rate politician”, Hoyer said.
Later, Trump tweeted the following picture of Pelosi scolding him with the caption “Nervous Nancy’s unhinged meltdown!”
Trump was likely feeling especially vulnerable after enduring a lengthy, pointed critique from staunch ally Lindsey Graham, who said the following over the course of multiple tweets Wednesday:
The statements by President Trump about Turkey’s invasion being of no concern to us also completely undercut Vice President Pence and Sec. Pompeo’s ability to end the conflict.
When it comes to America’s national security I will NEVER be quiet.
Mr. President, forget about what I’m saying about Syria. Listen to your own national security team who are telling you the consequences of your decision and the impact it will have on our nation.
President Trump is being told EXACTLY what President Obama was told before he withdrew from Iraq. He appears to be hell-bent on making the same mistakes in Syria as President Obama made in Iraq.
The worst thing any Commander in Chief can do is to give land back to the enemy that was taken through blood and sacrifice. I fear those are the consequences of the actions being taken right now.
“Lindsey Graham would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years”, an irritated Trump shot back, recommending that Graham “focus on the judiciary” and leave the military strategy to him.
Those present for Trump’s alleged “meltdown” at the White House included Mick Mulvaney, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Steve Mnuchin, Mark Esper, Mark Milley, State Department Deputy Sec. John Sullivan, Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy, Schumer and Pelosi.
Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo are en route to Turkey to try and talk Erdogan into calling off what is now a mini-genocide.
Meanwhile, Bashar al-Assad’s troops along with Russian forces entered the crucial border city of Kobani on Wednesday and have reportedly established outposts in Raqqa.
Trump: “It was a perfect meeting. My words were perfect. I was perfect.”
mfn forget to add … “my response was perfect, in fact everything about me is perfect: unlike everyone else.”
He also called Jim Mattis an “overrated general” and claimed that only the “least dangerous” ISIS members had escaped
He’s an idiot. But I state the obvious…
I think I’m going to have a melt down if this goes on much longer.
Brilliant exit strategy. Not in his right mind. Maybe he is a fox.
“Maybe he is a fox news junkie”
Fixed it for you.
He must be having his period 🙂
Forget an impeachment, how about invoking the 25th Amendment, ASAP…!!!
I missed out on the draft for the Vietnam war because I was a just a bit too young when the majority of draftees were being taken. That said, I knew people that were drafted or signed up due to US propaganda. Some came home. Some did not. I protested the Vietnam war. When is the US going to stop being the planet’s biggest bully? When are we going to quit starting these “regime-change” conflicts?
I didn’t vote for Trump and strongly disagree with 99.9% of what he does and says. I am also looking for the day when liberals, progressives, and/or Democrats speak out against wars of choice. This is the 0.1% of the time where I agree with the Orange Man. I’ve spent too much time with friends/co-workers who came back from Vietnam messed up.
I have family members who have done the same and also came home “suffering the consequences “ They would do it all over again because the truth of the matter is not so black and white as “don’t get involved and they will leave us alone. “They won’t leave us alone period. Do you really think “they” wouldn’t dare to come to the USA?
These are professional soldiers, not conscripts.
It’s pretty funny that he would post that pic and call it a ‘meltdown’ when it more looks like a schooling. Then, Nancy makes him further a fool by making it her new headline.
Actually this whole issue is a non event………after all we elected all these idiots.!!
Isn’t Pompeo in the picture of Pelosi? In the back corner with his head down? He’s looking a little hopeless there…
I thought Pelosi said that trump called her a third grade politician and then said, trump didn’t even get his insult right.
Back at the Capitol, Pelosi told reporters Trump called her a “third-grade politician” and that she responded, “I wish you were a politician.”.