Trump takes dig at "crazy Nancy" Pelosi after announcing new subsidies for farmers
President Trump took a few sharp verbal shots at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the White House Thursday as he announced $16 billion in new subsidies for farmers and ranchers, questioning the mental faculties of the most powerful woman in Washington.
Mr. Trump tore into Pelosi, who on Wednesday suggested the president engaged in a "cover-up" by withholding information from Congress, declaring her "crazy," "a mess," and unable to comprehend the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement he wants Congress to pass.
The president, speaking in the Roosevelt Room, shifted from discussing the new aid his administration is offering to farmers due to the ongoing trade war with China, to discussing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and blasting Pelosi. The president has escalated his language about the top Democrat ever since the "cover-up" comment, a comment that prompted the president to cut short an infrastructure meeting with her Wednesday and deliver a statement to reporters in the White House Rose Garden.
On Thursday, flanked by farmers, the president asked multiple top White House aides to confirm on camera that his demeanor in that infrastructure meeting Wednesday was calm, after Pelosi and Schumer criticized his behavior and Pelosi suggested his family stage an intervention for him. The president insisted he is an "extremely stable genius."
Asked why his administration hasn't yet sent the text of the USMCA bill to Congress yet, the president responded, "Well they're being very nice to her because they really you know she's a mess. Look let's face it, she doesn't understand it. And they sort of feel she is disintegrating before their eyes. She does not understand it. ... So she's gotta get up to snuff, learn the bill, and by the way I think she wants to approve it, I think."
Pelosi tweeted in response to the president's lengthy off-the-cuff remarks, "When the 'extremely stable genius' starts acting more presidential, I'll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues."
Mr. Trump, who took a number of questions from reporters Wednesday, also said he would send troops to the Middle East to handle Iran if that's necessary, but doesn't think they'll be needed. The president said he has a meeting on that topic Thursday.
Mr. Trump insists he is behind the men and women who support the nation's agricultural industry, even as they suffer from the tariffs he has imposed. Mr. Trump has pushed for additional subsidies for farmers. Tensions between China and the U.S. have risen in recent days, as both countries brace for the impact of tariff hikes.
"It's a good time to be a farmer, we're going to make sure of that," the president said Thursday.