Hope Of Bipartisanship Fades As Trump Cuts Pelosi, Schumer Meeting Short Over ‘Cover-Up” Comment
Any glimmering hope of bipartisanship faded quickly Wednesday as President Trump cut short a scheduled meeting with top Democrats on infrastructure and made a surprise appearance in the White House Rose Garden to declare legislative efforts on that front — and possibly others — halted until Democratic leaders “get these phony investigations over with.”
The president’s 12-minute remarks to reporters — reporters who had been hastily gathered to the Rose Garden with no prior warning or information about what was happening — marked a clear breakdown in talks as the president appeared inflamed by remarks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made Wednesday morning following a meeting with the Democratic caucus. Earlier that morning, Pelosi told reporters the president engaged in a “cover-up,” a claim the president dismissed as absurd.
“We did nothing wrong,” he told reporters Wednesday. “They would have loved to say we colluded … they were out to get us.” And he called the Mueller investigation “a takedown attempt at the president of the United States.”
“It turns out I’m the most — and I think most of you would agree to this –I’m the most transparent president probably in the history of this country,” the president remarked. “Instead of walking in happily to a meeting, I walk in to look at people who just said I did coverups, I don’t do coverups.”
The infrastructure meeting with the president and top Democrats lasted only a few minutes, according to a person familiar with the meeting and a White House official. Trump said there wouldn’t be two tracks, according to the person, and told the Democrats that once investigations are over, they can discuss other things.
Pelsoi said that after long promising to work on infrastructure, President Trump “took a pass.”
“He just took a pass. And it just makes me wonder why he did that,” she said. “I pray for the President of the United States. And I pray for the United States of America.”
