Congressional Democratic leaders walked out of a Wednesday meeting with President Trump on Syria policy after Trump allegedly insulted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“He was insulting, particularly to the speaker … He called her a third-rate politician,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on the White House driveway.
Schumer accused Trump of delivering a “nasty diatribe” when defending his decision this month to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, which resulted in a Turkish attack on formerly U.S.-allied Kurds.
The meeting occurred moments after the House voted 354-60 to rebuke Trump’s withdrawal of troops.
“He said there are communists involved and you guys might like that,” Schumer recounted.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, said she witnessed Trump in “a meltdown, sad to say.”
“Yes, we walked out,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy attacked Pelosi in subsequent comments to reporters, telling them he found her decision to leave the meeting “unbecoming” and not the way “a speaker should carry herself.”
“She storms out of another meeting,” he said, calling it a “pattern of behavior.”
In a statement, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham defended Trump’s conduct.
“The president was measured, factual and decisive, while Speaker Pelosi’s decision to walk out was baffling, but not surprising,” Grisham said. “She had no intention of listening or contributing to an important meeting on national security issues. While Democratic leadership chose to storm out and get in front of the cameras to whine, everyone else in the meeting chose to stay in the room and work on behalf of this country.”
After the initial walkout, Schumer confirmed that lawmakers of both parties had remained behind to continue discussions.
Trump offered an increasingly well-honed defense of his withdrawal Wednesday, saying he was fulfilling a campaign pledge and that it was not the proper role of U.S. troops to prevent conflicts in the Middle East.
The White House has scrambled to halt Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria, including imposing sanctions on Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, however, has insisted he will agree to no ceasefire as Vice President Mike Pence prepares to depart on a peace mission.
The White House released a letter from Trump to Erdoğan, urging: “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!”
