Trump: Meeting With Republicans On Capitol Hill Was 'Love Fest'
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork) -- President Donald Trump left the White House Wednesday for a trip to Dallas, but not before stopping to take reporters' questions on a wide range of issues.
As CBS2's Dick Brennan reported, Trump has been communicating on Twitter for the past few days and hitting his opponents hard. But on Wednesday, he came before the cameras to address his critics, and the people who say the Republicans are divided.
Trump said a meeting on Capitol Hill Tuesday proves Republicans are supporting his agenda.
"I called it a love fest. It was almost a love fest -- maybe it was a love fest," Trump said. "Standing ovations there is great unity."
Trump dismissed divisions in the GOP, in particular the words of U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), who blasted the president while announcing Tuesday that he will not run for reelection.
"I think that we have a responsibility as elected officials to speak out when there's behavior that is just beyond the pale, and some of what we've seen, I think, fits in that category," Flake said.
Trump fired back Wednesday: "His polls numbers are terrible. He's done terribly for the great people of Arizona -- a state that likes Donald Trump very much. Even you will admit, and he would have never won, and even in the primary he was way down in the primary."
The president also addressed his condolence call to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, one of four soldiers who was killed in the attack in Niger.
"I respect her," Trump said. "I respect her family."
Sgt. Johnson's widow, Myeisha Johnson, said Trump was disrespectful in his condolence call and said he did not even know her husband's name. Trump denied the claim.
"Just so you understand, they put a chart in front – La David, says La David Johnson – so right from the beginning, no hesitation. One of the greatest memories of all time – there was no hesitation," Trump said. "I think she is a fantastic woman; extremely nice to her; extremely respectful."
On another front, Trump was seemingly gloating with the news that Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee bankrolled part of the dossier to gather damaging information on candidate Trump – including possible ties to Russia.
"I think it's very sad with this fake dossier. It was made up. I understand they paid a tremendous amount of money," Trump said. "Hillary Clinton denied it. The Democrats denied it. And now only because it's coming out in a court case, they said yes – they did it. They admitted it."
The opposition research firm also conducted work for one or more Republican opponents of candidate Trump, before offering services to the Democrats when he won the nomination.
The identity of the Republican clients has not been revealed.