DONALD Trump once again hailed himself as an “extremely stable genius” as he branded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “crazy” in an escalating war of words.
The US President accused Pelosi of “losing it” after she suggested that Trump may want to take a leave of absence from the presidency.
Tensions ratcheted up after Trump stormed out of a White House meeting on Wednesday and refused to work with Democrats amid ongoing investigations.
The abrupt departure from the infrastructure meeting prompted Pelosi to call Trump a “poor baby” who had a “temper tantrum”.
These comments poured fuel on the fire of their very public argument and Trump fired back at Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday.
“You had the group – Crying Chuck and Crazy Nancy,” Trump said while discussing the meeting.
“I’ll tell you what, I’ve been watching her, and I have been watching her for a long period of time, she’s not the same person. She’s lost it.
“I think she’s got a lot of problems. She was all crazy yesterday. She is a mess.
“Let’s face it she doesn’t understand. They sort of feel like she’s disintegrating before their eyes.”
Trump then fiercely defended his own mental state.
“I haven’t changed very much. Been very consistent. I am an extremely stable genius,” he said.
Pelosi then hit back at Trump on Twitter.
“When the ‘extremely stable genius’ starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues,” she wrote.
The personal attacks came after Pelosi suggested Trump’s family should stage an “intervention” for the good of the country.
“I wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference.
“Maybe he wants to take a leave of absence,” she said. Asked whether she’s concerned about Trump’s well-being, she replied, “I am.”
Trump denied he wanted the House to formally charge him.
“I don’t think anybody wants to be impeached,” he said.
On Wednesday, Trump said he would no longer work with Democrats unless they drop all investigations in the aftermath of the Mueller report on collusion with Russia.
Pelosi mocked Trump’s behaviour as “very strange” and said he had a “temper tantrum” after he stalked out of the meeting with congressional leaders on Wednesday.
She had earlier described Trump’s behaviour during his presidency as a “cover-up” – saying it could be an “impeachable offense”.
After Trump walked out from the meeting on infrastructure just three minutes in – Pelosi described his actions as a “poor baby” moment.
“He walked away. Whether he intended to act on what he said before remains to be seen,” she told the CAPS Ideas conference.
“It was very, very, very strange.’
“Instead in an orchestrated – almost poor baby point of view – he came in the room and said that I said he was engaged in a cover up and couldn’t possibly, couldn’t possibly engage in a conversation on infrastructure as long as we were investigating him.”
She later said: “Sadly, the only job the president seems to be concerned with is his own.
“He threatened to stop working with Democrats on all legislation unless we end oversight of his administration and he had a temper tantrum for us all to see.”
Trump insisted he could not negotiate policy with congressional Democrats while they continue to investigate him.
“I want to do infrastructure,” Trump said he told Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, noting the scheduled topic of the meeting.
“But you know what? We can’t do it under these circumstances,” he said he told them. “So get these phony investigations over.”
Without ever shaking anyone’s hand, or even taking a seat, Trump turned and left the three-minute meeting.
He strode to the Rose Garden where reporters and TV cameras had been assembled and proceeded to assail the Democrats, particularly Pelosi for her “cover-up” comment.
“I don’t do cover-ups,” Trump fumed.
Trump also complained that Democrats had met to discuss whether to impeach him – or, as he called it, “the I-word”.
Pelosi, the top congressional Democrat, did not back down afterwards and spoke out after the possibility of impeachment.
“The fact is, in plain sight in the public domain, this president is obstructing justice and he’s engaged in a cover-up – and that could be an impeachable offense,” Pelosi said in an event at the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington policy advocacy group.
The president is stonewalling investigations by ignoring subpoenas, refusing to let current and former advisers testify and not handing over documents.
This is in the aftermath of the April release of Mueller’s report that detailed Russian interference in the 2016 election to boost Trump’s candidacy.
After the blow-up of the meeting and Trump’s diatribe, Democrats accused him of setting them up and expressed concern about his conduct and the long-term outlook.
“The president has made it clear he doesn’t want to consider any substantive issue as long as he’s under investigation,” Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, told Reuters.
“I’ve got news for the president: Every president is under investigation. That’s the nature of our Constitution,” he said.
In the run-up to the infrastructure meeting, Trump was stewing over Pelosi’s cover-up remarks, according to a White House official.
As the meeting neared, Trump told aides he wanted to hold an event in the Rose Garden to make a statement.
Just three weeks ago, Trump and the Democrats agreed to spend $2 trillion on roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Wednesday’s meeting was supposed to be about ironing out the thorny details of how to pay for it all.
