Trump Throws a “Tantrum”

According to Democrats and the news media (but I repeat myself), President Trump threw a tantrum and stormed out of a meeting with congressional leaders today.  Here’s how The Hill reports it:

Republicans said tense negotiations over resolving the government shutdown at the White House ended when President Trump stormed out of the meeting with a stern warning to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.): “Don’t call my bluff.”

“It ended with the president abruptly walking out of the meeting,” Pelosi told reporters Wednesday upon returning to the Capitol. . .

“No. Absolutely not,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.) told The Hill in a brief interview when asked whether the president had acted as Pelosi had described.

A Republican source familiar with the negotiations said the reports of a dramatic or abrupt walk-out by Trump were overblown, but the source acknowledged that the president “said what he was going to say, got up and walked out.”

“The climax of the meeting was the president basically saying ‘What’s happening in this room confirms what everybody across the country thinks about Washington, D.C.,’” the official said. “Which is that people are more interested in protecting their base and political positioning than solving problems.”

Oh wait, sorry—this is actually a description of President Obama in 2011, when a Republican House confronted Obama over a standoff about raising the debt ceiling.  I don’t recall the media tut-tutting Obama for walking out of a meeting. I just changed the names of the dramatis personae.  Here’s the original copy, for the record:

Republicans said tense negotiations over raising the $14.3 trillion debt limit at the White House ended when President Obama stormed out of the meeting with a stern warning to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.): “Don’t call my bluff.”

“It ended with the president abruptly walking out of the meeting,” Cantor told reporters Wednesday upon returning to the Capitol.

Democrats immediately disputed the GOP account, saying Obama had sought to end the meeting when Cantor interrupted him to get a final word.

“No. Absolutely not,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told The Hill in a brief interview when asked whether the president had acted as Cantor had described.

A Democratic source familiar with the negotiations said the reports of a dramatic or abrupt walk-out by Obama were overblown, but the source acknowledged that the president “said what he was going to say, got up and walked out.”

“The climax of the meeting was the president basically saying ‘What’s happening in this room confirms what everybody across the country thinks about Washington, D.C.,’” the official said. “Which is that people are more interested in protecting their base and political positioning than solving problems.”

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