Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Axios
Axios
Politics
Mike Allen

Nancy Pelosi's Trump-like taunts are working

Instant classic from this year's State of the Union Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Speaker Pelosi, who used to treat President Trump like a naughty grandchild, last week adopted a notably more confrontational public posture, as she tried to defuse the impeachment fever rising among House Democrats.

Why it matters: "Pelosi’s allies said her taunting of Trump now is intentional, designed to get under his skin and elicit an angry reaction," per the WashPost.


  • "I wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country," Pelosi said Thursday at her weekly press conference.
  • "There’s no question, the White House is just crying out for impeachment," Pelosi added. "That’s why he flipped yesterday."
  • Asked about her "intervention" dig, Pelosi warmed to it: "That’s up to his family and his Cabinet and his staff in the White House. This is not behavior that rises to the dignity of the office of president of the United States."

A senior Democratic aide told me: "She’s succeeded in making three things very clear: 1) She’s interested in getting things done and he walked away again; 2) She’s the only adult in Washington and is leading Dems with precision; 3) He’s a toddler who pays a price for attacking her because he resorts to such publicly infantile lows to attack her." 

  • Even Trump allies can't believe he keeps falling for it: "I do this with my dog," one of them said.
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.