President Trump apparently began a Friday meeting with congressional leaders with some tough language saying he preferred the word “strike” to refer to the ongoing government shutdown.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump began Friday’s controversial closed-door negotiations with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and newly appointed Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with a 15-minute, profanity-laced rant.
The president’s comments centered on his $5.6 billion demand for a border wall, according to CNN. The news outlet reported that Trump said he would be unwilling to negotiate for any less.
One media outlet reported that Trump also blamed Pelosi for freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) vowing at a party on Thursday that House Democrats would “impeach the motherf—er.”
Trump reportedly told lawmakers that he was too popular to impeach.
“How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong (no Collusion with Russia, it was the Dems that Colluded), had the most successful first two years of any president, and is the most popular Republican in party history 93%?” Trump tweeted Friday morning before the meeting.
Pelosi told the president that they were gathered to discuss the shutdown not his impeachment, sources told CNN.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed or forced to work without pay due to the partial government shutdown, which began Dec. 22. The standoff is primarily over Trump’s demand for billions of dollars in border wall funding.
Trump on Friday also threatened to keep the government closed for “years,” if needed, in order to get his long-desired border wall. Trump confirmed this to reporters from a press conference in the White House Rose Garden.
GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) did not speak much during the meeting, according to one media outlet.
Leadership from both parties is expected to meet with Vice President Pence on Saturday morning to continue negotiations.
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