Pelosi: Trump Had 'Meltdown' During Syria Meeting

But House Republicans say it was Pelosi's behavior that was 'unbecoming'
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 16, 2019 4:50 PM CDT
Pelosi: Trump Had 'Meltdown' During Syria Meeting
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, speaks with members of the media alongside Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., outside of the West Wing of the White House after a meeting with President Donald Trump, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Shortly after the House on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to condemn President Trump's withdrawal of US forces from Syria, Congressional leaders were at the White House for a meeting with Trump on the matter—a meeting that did not end well. Nancy Pelosi, who said she believed Trump was "very shaken up" by the vote, told reporters the president had a "meltdown" during the meeting, CNN reports. "He was insulting, particularly to the speaker," Chuck Schumer added. "She kept her cool completely, but he called her a third-rate politician. This was not a dialogue, it was sort of a diatribe. A nasty diatribe, not focused on the facts."

But the AP reports House Republicans are blaming Pelosi for the "unbecoming" action of walking out of the meeting. A Democrat familiar with the meeting anonymously tells the AP that during it, Trump also described former Defense Secretary James Mattis as "the world's most overrated general" after being presented with a quote from Mattis warning the Islamic State could experience a resurgence if the US stops applying pressure. Trump said Mattis was not "tough enough." (More Syria stories.)

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