Mr. Trump has turned many of these sessions into either monologues or opportunities for his supporters to tell him what a great job he is doing. This time, when he had a testy confrontation with the Democratic House leader, Nancy Pelosi of California, and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader from New York, Mr. Trump rewrote the playbook again. Mr. Trump easily could have allowed the television cameras and pool reporters in to briefly record the pro forma portion of the meeting. Mr. Trump pressed for funding the border wall, offering numerous false assertions about the construction process. Ms. Pelosi, hewing to the language of decorum, said, “That is not the point, Mr. President, the point is that there are equities to be weighed, and we are here to have a conversation.

Source: New York Times December 11, 2018 19:13 UTC