President Trump called former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis “the world’s most overrated general,” in a heated discussion with Democrats at the White House Wednesday afternoon.
A senior Democratic aide who attended the meeting said Trump made the comment to Democrats after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer referred to the general during a discussion about Trump’s decision to move U.S. troops away from the Syrian border.
Trump said Mattis “wasn’t tough enough,” and added, “I captured ISIS. Mattis said it would take two years. I captured them in one month.”
Democrats said the president treated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disrespectfully and called her “a third-grade politician.”
The talks broke down when Democrats demanded to know Trump’s plan for Syria, where thousands of ISIS prisoners are being held and could end up escaping now that U.S. troops are gone.
Trump told Democrats “Our plan is to keep the American people safe.”
Pelosi told Trump, “That’s not a plan, that’s a goal.”
Democrats said the president tried to blame President Barack Obama for the problems in Syria, referencing the “red line” Obama warned Syria about but never acted upon.
“President Obama drew a red line in the sand,” Trump said. “In my opinion, you are a third-grade politician.”
That’s when House Democratic leaders stood up and left the room, followed by Schumer.
“Goodbye, we’ll see you at the polls,” Trump told them as they walked out.
Democrats emerged from the White House and described Trump’s behavior as a meltdown to waiting reporters.
“We have to pray for his health,” Pelosi told reporters when she returned to the Capitol.
[Read more: ‘Strategically brilliant’: Trump spends day touting northern Syria pullout as a smashing success]
