WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump tried to isolate two retiring Republican senators on Wednesday, tweeting they are acting "hurt & wounded" while the rest of the caucus had a "love fest" with him on Tuesday.
The day after Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona shocked Washington by announcing he will not seek reelection, Trump took to Twitter to say the reason he and also-retiring Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee are leaving Congress is "very simple, they had zero chance of being elected."
He then took his war of words with the two down a personal path, writing both "Now act so hurt & wounded!"
Trump then described, briefly, the scene inside a Capitol room where he addressed GOP senators on Tuesday.
Other than the two retiring senators, the president called the lunch meeting "a love fest" that included "standing ovations and great ideas for USA!"
After that closed-door strategy meeting, senators described it as one part Trump-led pep rally and another part question-and-answer session with the president. They discussed a GOP tax overhaul push, immigration, health care, the next Federal Reserve chair, and other issues, senators said.
They described Trump as "upbeat" and "positive," and Corker said he was not called out by Trump as he ate his lunch and the president spoke.
Trump and Corker spent most of Tuesday morning trading barbs as their feud hit a new level. Corker criticized the president on the "Today Show," and the president fired back on Twitter. When Corker kept it going when CNN caught up with him in a hallway, Trump again fired off tweets laying into the former Chattanooga mayor.
But GOP senators insisted following the meeting the war of words is not distracting them from doing their work.
