Trump, senator trade online barbs

Corker answers tweets, calls White House ‘adult day care’

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., speaks to the Sevier County Chamber of Commerce in Sevierville, Tenn., in August.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., speaks to the Sevier County Chamber of Commerce in Sevierville, Tenn., in August.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, on Sunday called the White House "an adult day care center" after President Donald Trump criticized him in several Twitter posts.

Setting off a squabble between two leaders of the same party, Trump said in a trio of tweets that Corker "begged" him for his endorsement, did not receive it and decided to retire because he "didn't have the guts" to run for re-election next year.

In response, Corker tweeted, "It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning."

Trump's tweets about Corker come after the senator made headlines last week when he starkly suggested that the national security team provides the president with needed adult supervision. In a statement, Corker told reporters that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly "are those people that help separate our country from chaos."

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Trump tweeted Sunday morning criticizing Corker, who announced last month that he plans to retire and not seek re-election in 2018.

Trump tweeted, "Senator Bob Corker 'begged' me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said 'NO' and he dropped out (said he could not win without... ..my endorsement). He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said 'NO THANKS.' He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal! Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn't have the guts to run!"

Todd Womack, chief of staff for Corker, disputed each of the claims the president made in his tweets. Womack said Trump called Corker early last week and asked him to reconsider his decision not to seek re-election.

Womack also said Trump "reaffirmed that he would have endorsed" the senator, "as he has said many times."

Later Sunday, Trump tweeted "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!"

In an interview Sunday with The New York Times, Corker said Trump could set the U.S. "on the path to World War III" with threats toward other countries. Corker also said Trump acted as if he was on his old reality-TV show and that concerned the senator, adding: "He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation."

Corker also said his concerns about Trump were shared by nearly every Senate Republican, the paper reported.

Corker has said that he'll oppose any measure that increases the national debt by a single cent. Republicans hold a narrow, 52-seat majority in the Senate, and just three defections would halt the push for a bill.

And Corker will be at the center of a debate over the future of the Iran agreement. Trump's hesitation toward the deal has stoked concerns he's aiming to dismantle the international accord despite Europe's objections. Corker is opposed to scrapping the agreement outright.

Corker was a prominent supporter of Trump's 2016 campaign, and Trump considered him a potential running mate and secretary of state. Corker was one of only a few senators to develop a personal relationship with Trump and his family, but tensions between the two men flared over the summer.

In August, Corker criticized Trump's handling of the deadly white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., saying, "The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful."

In response to the senator's "stability" and "competence" comments, Trump tweeted, "Tennessee not happy!"

Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Sunday that he enjoys working with Corker and that the senator feels free to speak his mind now that he is not seeking re-election.

"I think it's going to be fun to work with him, especially now that he's announced that he's not running for re-election, because I think it sort of unleashes him to do whatever and say whatever he wants to say," Mulvaney said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press.

Information for this article was contributed by Philip Rucker and Karoun Demirjian of The Washington Post and Richard Lardner and Andrew Taylor of The Associated Press.

A Section on 10/09/2017

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