President Donald Trump on Thursday called on his top aides to publicly state he was “calm” during the disastrous meeting with Democratic leaders the day before, as he hijacked an event with farmers to air his grievances over Speaker Nancy Pelosi and insist upon his mental fitness.
“I've been watching her. I have been watching her for a long period of time. She's not the same person. She's lost it,” Trump said of Pelosi during an event at the White House with agriculture industry leaders. Just moments before he announced $16 billion in federal aid to growers hammered by the U.S.-China trade conflict.
In a remarkable scene, the president proceeded to name-check senior White House staff and advisers in the Roosevelt Room who he said had attended Wednesday’s scuttled session on infrastructure initiatives with Democratic congressional leaders — which Trump abandoned after declaring that the lawmakers could not simultaneously negotiate legislation while investigating and threatening to impeach him.
“Kellyanne, what was my temperament yesterday?” Trump asked White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.
“Very calm. No tamper tantrum,” she replied before criticizing journalists’ coverage of the meeting, which Trump has complained portrayed him as rageful and lacking composure.
“The whole Democrat Party is very messed up. They have never recovered from the great election of 2016 — an election that I think you folks liked very much, right?” Trump said, addressing the farmers flanking his lectern. “Well, Nancy Pelosi was not happy about it, and she is a mess.”
Trump then turned to Mercedes Schlapp, a White House communications aide, and pressed her for an account of the meeting.
“You were very calm and you were very direct, and you sent a very firm message to the speaker and to the Democrats,” Schlapp said.
Next up was Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, who said the president’s conversation with Democrats was “much calmer than some of our trade meetings,” followed by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who described the president’s demeanor as “very calm and straightforward and clear.”
But the greatest praise of the president came from Trump himself, who told reporters: “I'm an extremely stable genius. OK?”
Trump casually demeans Nancy Pelosi for purportedly not being smart enough to understand his trade deals pic.twitter.com/aMP4KFgH0t
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 23, 2019
Trump seeks assurances from his staff that he's not a lunatic. Completely beyond parody. pic.twitter.com/DBwT8ayvgF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 23, 2019
Trump is so freakin' odd pic.twitter.com/O48MejwFE5
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 23, 2019
Trump is unbelievably egotistical pic.twitter.com/eKm38oyjRZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 23, 2019
Trump is unbelievably egotistical pic.twitter.com/eKm38oyjRZ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 23, 2019
REPORTER: Sir, the constitution says treason is punishable by death. You've accused your adversaries of treason. Who specifically are you accusing of treason?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 23, 2019
TRUMP: A number of people. If you look at Comey, McCabe, if you look at Strzok, his lover Lisa Page... 😳 pic.twitter.com/6louyWsqaa