In what was perhaps the most entertaining White House press briefing since President Trump’s now-infamous battle with CNN’s Jim Acosta, an impromptu public meeting with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi swiftly devolved into bitter sniping about Trump’s demands for border-wall funding that ended with Trump saying he would “happily” take responsibility for another government shutdown if his demands aren’t met.
Trump was supposed to hold a private meeting with the two Dems, but it surprised them by inviting in cameras at the start of the meeting.
Pelosi and Trump started by arguing over whether the president had the votes in the House to get the wall funding passed. Trump said that while he could probably push it through the House, he didn’t have the votes in the Senate, so starting the process would be a waste of time.
The bitter attacks quickly moved from the wall to sniping over the outcome of the midterms.
“Elections have consequences, Mr. President,” Schumer says.
Trump shoots back: “That’s right. And that’s why the country is doing so well.”
And the incident ended with Trump declaring he’d be proud to shut down the government.
“I am proud to shut down the government for border security Chuck because the people of this country…don’t want criminals pouring into our country. I will take the blame for it because last time you shut it down it didn’t work.”
Markets moved lower as headlines from the meeting hit the tape, as traders probably watched in disbelief over how Trump’s era of “bipartisan good feeling” had gone so horribly awry.
Watch the 17 minutes of pure insanity below:
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