When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went to the White House Wednesday to talk infrastructure with Donald Trump, the meeting was over before it started. Trump walked out after three minutes and headed straight to the Rose Garden for a surprise publicity stunt with pre-printed "Mueller probe by the numbers" signs and fact sheets. Trump groused about Democrats' "I word" meetings, referring to impeachment, and decried Pelosi declaring earlier in the day that Trump "is engaged in a cover up." Finally, Trump declared that all work on behalf of the American people must be tabled as long as congressional Democrats continued to perform their constitutional oversight responsibilities.
"I want to do infrastructure," Trump claimed, "but you know what, you can’t do it under these circumstances. So get these phony investigations over with,” he commanded.
Within minutes of Trump's fait accompli declaration, Pelosi and Schumer held their own press conference, in which they admitted that they were ambushed by Trump.
"We had hoped that we could give this president the opportunity to have a signature infrastructure initiative," Pelosi said, "For some reason — maybe a lack of confidence on his part that he couldn’t match the greatness of the challenge before him — ... he just took a pass.”
Or maybe he's running scared, now that his arguments are losing in court and his taxes and desperate financial situation, along with possible criminal activity, might be revealed for all to see. Pelosi actually said she was "praying" for Trump and "for our country." That admittedly sounds dire.
Schumer said the supposed meeting was unbelievable. "To watch what happened in the White House would make your jaw drop," Schumer said. "We came here very seriously." Schumer added that Trump was looking "for any excuse" to kill the deal.
Guess what? Trump found one. Sorry, America: no soup for you.
