Corker: Trump threatens WWIII
WASHINGTON — An enraged President Donald Trump and a prominent Republican senator who fears the country could be edging toward “chaos” engaged in an intense and vitriolic back-and-forth bashing on social media Sunday, a remarkable airing of their party’s profound rifts.
In political discourse that might once have seemed inconceivable, the GOP’s foreign policy expert in the Senate felt compelled to answer his president’s barbs by tweeting: “It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.”
In an interview Sunday with The New York Times, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said Mr. Trump could set the U.S. “on the path to World War III” with threats toward other countries. Mr. Corker also said Mr. Trump acted as if he was on his old realityTV show and that he concerned the senator, adding: “He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.”
Mr. Corker also said his concerns about Mr. Trump were shared by nearly every Senate Republican, the paper reported.
In a series of stinging tweets earlier in the day, Mr. Trump Corker:
• Was “largely responsible for the horrendous” Iran nuclear deal, which the Democratic Obama administration negotiated and Mr. Corker considered badly flawed.
• Intended to obstruct the White House agenda, though he offered no evidence for saying he expected Mr. Corker “to be a negative voice.”
• “Begged” for Mr. Trump’s endorsement in his 2018 re-election, then opted against seeking a third term when Mr. Trump declined, showing the senator “didn’t have the guts to run.” Mr. Corker’s chief of staff, Todd contended Mr. Womack, said Sunday that Mr. Trump called Mr. Corker last Monday to ask that he reconsider his decision to leave the Senate. Mr. Trump “reaffirmed that he would have endorsed him, as he has said many times,” the aide said.
• Wanted to be secretary of state, and “I said ‘NO THANKS,‘” said Mr. Trump, who picked Exxon Mobil’s Rex Tillerson for that Cabinet post.
Mr. Trump added another tweet Sunday evening: “Bob Corker gave us the Iran Deal, & that’s about it. We need HealthCare, we need Tax Cuts/Reform, we need people that can get the job done!”