Donald Trump clashed sharply with Republican senators during a closed-door meeting in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, as tensions flared over efforts to curb his authority to direct the war with Iran.
The Republican-led Senate had approved bipartisan legislation requiring Trump to either bring the conflict with Iran to an end or obtain congressional authorization to continue it. The vote represented the strongest pushback yet from Republicans against the President and underscored a growing divide within the party.
Trump addressed the full Senate Republican majority behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, pressing lawmakers to explain why they supported restrictions on his war-making powers.
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana tried to lay out the reasoning behind the vote, but the exchange quickly turned personal. Cassidy was one of four Republican senators — along with Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul — who sided with Democrats on the war powers measure.
‘He [Trump] was asking why anybody would vote for the power’s accident. I said, “Is that a rhetorical question, or do you want to know?” He goes, “I want to know,”‘ Cassidy told the Daily Mail.
According to Cassidy, the confrontation escalated to the point that he began ‘yelling’ at the President. Trump, in turn, called him a lunatic and ordered him to ‘sit down.’
Cassidy did not immediately comply and addressed Trump as ‘brother.’ The President pushed back, telling him he was not his ‘brother,’ before Cassidy eventually returned to his seat.
Trump also taunted Cassidy over his primary loss, a remark the senator interpreted as an attempt by the President to intimidate him.
The Republican-controlled Senate passed bipartisan legislation ordering Trump to end the war with Iran or seek congressional approval to continue it
Trump met privately with the entire Republican Senate majority behind-closed doors on Capitol Hill to discuss why they had decided to vote to limits his power to wage war
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana attempted to explain their rationale, but the President immediately resorted to personal insults
EXCLUSIVE: Courageous Mother Wins 23-Year Sentence for Her Abuser in Pursuit of Justice
Cassidy lost his Republican primary in May, and will leave the Senate in January, making him the first elected incumbent senator to lose a primary since 2012.
‘I’m not going to be bullied when I feel like I’m asking a question the American people need to know. And so, at that point, it began to escalate,’ Cassidy told the Daily Mail.
Trump’s meeting with the senator followed his controversial decision to abruptly cancel a signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill.
The President said he would not sign the bill until the Senate passed his controversial Save America Act, which requires Americans to present a voter ID to cast an electoral ballot.
Asked about Trump’s refusal to hold the housing bill hostage, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters, ‘That was his call to make.’
As he left the Capitol building, Trump called it a ‘great meeting’ but said he was frustrated with some Republican lawmakers.
‘We like our leader. We like everybody, really, in the room,’ Trump said. ‘I don’t like a few people but that’s okay, I think you know who they are.’
Thune did not escort the President out of the Capitol following his remarks to the press about GOP lawmakers.
Senator Cassidy referred to Trump as ‘brother’ during their heated argument
Thune appeared with the President at the Capitol building for his meeting with GOP lawmakers
Trump’s relationship with the Senate GOP has been on the decline since the President endorsed primary challengers to two Republican incumbents seen as major allies of Thune: Texas Senator John Cornyn and Cassidy.
Once a reliably loyal bloc, the chamber’s GOP majority has grown increasingly willing to break with the President on questions of war powers, spending, and the limits of executive authority.
