President Trump held an impromptu press conference on Wednesday to express his dissatisfaction with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who accused him of a "coverup" before a scheduled meeting on a massive infrastructure bill. The USA Today front-page headline screamed "Trump: Drop inquiries or no deals."
This vague, yet menacing headline implies that Trump wants all congressional oversight canceled before they can work together on legislation.
They quoted the president saying "You probably can't go down two tracks. You can go down the investigation track, or you can go down the investment track." That was the only evidence the USA Today reporters offered as evidence for their headline.
When Bill Clinton was president, reporters themselves described Republicans as preferring "scandal over substance" and described any investigation of Clinton to be a waste of time and taxpayer money. Not so when the Democrats are out to get Trump.
The Wall Street Journal had a less inflammatory headline. "President Walks Out on Pelosi, Schumer: Trump says he can't work with Democrats after speaker says he engaged in a coverup."
Journal reporters Rebecca Ballhaus and Michael C. Bender quoted Trump as saying "I want to do infrastructure. I want to do it more than you want to do it. But you know what, you can't do it under these circumstances."
They added "Mr. Trump didn't specify the scope of his refusal to work with Democrats while investigations continue," and Trump aides signaled they still wanted a two-year budget deal and approval of the trade deal with Canada and Mexico.
Other papers sounded a bit more like both parties were responsible for the impasse. The New York Times headlines were "Rebuking Pelosi, Trump Condemns 'Phony' Inquiries / Walks Out of Meeting / Hopes for Bipartisanship Crumble as Speaker Claims Cover-Up."
