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| Trump and Pelosi Trade Barbs, Both Questioning the Other’s Fitness | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| WASHINGTON — The war of words between President Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi escalated in dramatic fashion on Thursday, with each leader questioning the other’s temperament and fitness in highly personal terms. | |
| The president, who has largely avoided direct personal attacks on the speaker, called her “Crazy Nancy” and said she was incapable of understanding the details of a proposed new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. | |
| “She’s a mess,” he said at one point, adding “she’s lost it.” | |
| Ms. Pelosi quickly responded on Twitter, saying “When the “extremely stable genius” starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues.” | |
| Only hours early, Ms. Pelosi had said the president had engaged in “another temper tantrum” in a meeting with congressional Democrats on Wednesday that was called to discuss an infrastructure bill but broke up within minutes when Mr. Trump left the room. | |
| The dueling remarks signaled a startling acceleration in his fight with the speaker and congressional Democrats who have undertaken multiple investigations of the president, with many in the party saying that the president’s conduct has warranted an impeachment inquiry. | |
| A group of farmers and ranchers, some wearing cowboy hats in the White House, stood behind Mr. Trump at an event to announce $16 billion in aid, in part to compensate them for lost income due to his trade policies with China. | |
| That did not last long. | |
| Instead the president turned the attention to his fight with Ms. Pelosi. | |
| The farmers stood and stared. | |
| The president then enlisted a series of aides, Kellyanne Conway, Mercedes Schlapp, Sarah Sanders, Larry Kudlow and Hogan Gidley, to bolster his contention that he was calm during his brief meeting on Wednesday with Ms. Pelosi and other Democratic leaders in Congress. | |
| One by one, they acceded to his wishes, and affirmed his characterization in a ritual rarely seen in democratic governments. | |
| It was the second day in a row that Mr. Trump had bitterly attacked the Democrats, in sessions that were a rambling blend of his consistent list of villains in the Russian inquiry, larded with a heavy ladle of aggrievement. | |
| Ms. Pelosi said on Thursday that House Democrats were “not on a path to impeachment,” even as she accused Mr. Trump of trying to whip her caucus into a distracting political battle by stonewalling congressional oversight. | |
| Ms. Pelosi, buoyed by two recent victories in court over the White House, suggested that Mr. Trump was too unstable to govern the country. The president’s theatrical scrapping of Wednesday’s infrastructure meeting at the White House raised questions about his temperament and behavior, she said. | Ms. Pelosi, buoyed by two recent victories in court over the White House, suggested that Mr. Trump was too unstable to govern the country. The president’s theatrical scrapping of Wednesday’s infrastructure meeting at the White House raised questions about his temperament and behavior, she said. |
| Mr. Trump had “another temper tantrum,” she told reporters at her weekly news conference at the Capitol. “Again, I pray for the president of the United States. I wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country.” | Mr. Trump had “another temper tantrum,” she told reporters at her weekly news conference at the Capitol. “Again, I pray for the president of the United States. I wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country.” |
| Her remarks — intended to belittle Mr. Trump in the same way he denigrates his political opponents — are part of a calculated campaign by the speaker to pair public comments with private calls for House Democrats to avoid being goaded into impeachment. | Her remarks — intended to belittle Mr. Trump in the same way he denigrates his political opponents — are part of a calculated campaign by the speaker to pair public comments with private calls for House Democrats to avoid being goaded into impeachment. |
| His response just hours later suggested that it was working. | |
| [Here’s what the Democratic presidential candidates for 2020 have said about impeachment.] | [Here’s what the Democratic presidential candidates for 2020 have said about impeachment.] |
| Ms. Pelosi faced down calls from about 25 House Democrats who want her to move immediately on impeachment during a meeting with her caucus on Wednesday. Instead she urged them to “follow the facts” by allowing court cases to play out before passing final judgment. | Ms. Pelosi faced down calls from about 25 House Democrats who want her to move immediately on impeachment during a meeting with her caucus on Wednesday. Instead she urged them to “follow the facts” by allowing court cases to play out before passing final judgment. |
| Since then, a federal court on Wednesday affirmed the House’s right to obtain Mr. Trump’s financial records, the second such ruling this week. | Since then, a federal court on Wednesday affirmed the House’s right to obtain Mr. Trump’s financial records, the second such ruling this week. |
| “What really got to him,” Ms. Pelosi said, was “these court cases and the fact that the House Democratic caucus is not on a path to impeachment.” | “What really got to him,” Ms. Pelosi said, was “these court cases and the fact that the House Democratic caucus is not on a path to impeachment.” |
| “That’s where he wants us to be,” she told reporters, adding, “The White House is just crying out for impeachment” to divide Democrats and take the focus off the president’s failures and policy inaction. | “That’s where he wants us to be,” she told reporters, adding, “The White House is just crying out for impeachment” to divide Democrats and take the focus off the president’s failures and policy inaction. |
| Earlier Thursday, during a closed-door session with her caucus, Ms. Pelosi made the case more explicitly, arguing that the president hoped to provoke impeachment in order to achieve public exoneration by the Republican-controlled Senate, which acts as the final arbiter on impeachment hearings. | Earlier Thursday, during a closed-door session with her caucus, Ms. Pelosi made the case more explicitly, arguing that the president hoped to provoke impeachment in order to achieve public exoneration by the Republican-controlled Senate, which acts as the final arbiter on impeachment hearings. |
| For the moment, Ms. Pelosi seems to have stopped a mass defection of Democrats to the pro-impeachment cause. But to do so, allies said, she must avoid the appearance that she is being soft on Mr. Trump. | For the moment, Ms. Pelosi seems to have stopped a mass defection of Democrats to the pro-impeachment cause. But to do so, allies said, she must avoid the appearance that she is being soft on Mr. Trump. |
| That appears to mean amplifying her criticism of him, and giving public voice to opinions about the president that she has kept private until now. | That appears to mean amplifying her criticism of him, and giving public voice to opinions about the president that she has kept private until now. |
| On Thursday, she jokingly referenced the Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which allows a president to be removed from office if it is determined that he is “unable to discharge the duties of the office.” | On Thursday, she jokingly referenced the Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which allows a president to be removed from office if it is determined that he is “unable to discharge the duties of the office.” |
| “Article 25, that’s a good idea,” she added. | “Article 25, that’s a good idea,” she added. |
| An aide later said she was referring to the 25th Amendment. | An aide later said she was referring to the 25th Amendment. |