The President and the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, have had a famously turbulent relationship. Last week, however, things came to a boil. Pelosi spent the week attempting to provoke Trump into an attack, questioning his self-confidence and suggesting a family intervention for him. Trump, falling for Pelosi’s bait almost immediately, gave an improvised response in which he denied throwing temper tantrums. He also escalated his feud with Pelosi, calling her “Crazy Nancy,” and accused Democratic officials of being “bad people.” Trump and Pelosi had gotten into an infamous argument in the Oval Office, but now it seems as though their feud is officially past the point of no return. Later, the President shared a manipulated video of Pelosi in order to spread the false claim that she was slurring her words after her meeting with Trump; this video was featured on a Fox News segment, which Trump later tweeted.
Nancy Pelosi may not be a beloved politician — who is? — but she has been in the world of politics since the ’70s. Unlike Trump, who stepped into the world of politics for the first time in the 2016 elections, Pelosi has decades of experience in dealing with Democrats and Republicans alike. Even Trump seems to be finding it difficult to get traction in this face-to-face political fight, though he found ways to sidestep his political opponents in the 2016 election. This is because Pelosi is using Trump’s own method of provocation and mockery against him, and for once, Trump is in the hot seat and forced to respond to a more calculated rival.
A seasoned politician like Pelosi doesn’t simply attack for the sake of attacking. Pelosi and Representative Jerrold Nadler’s strategy of going slow and provoking Trump, instead of simply trying to make big waves like the Democrats in the pro-impeachment camp, is coming to a head. They are starting to shift the political battlefield, and the legal aspect of it is falling in their favor. By provoking Trump, it’s almost ensured that he’ll make a mistake that will do more harm to him and his camp than good. Trump, however, is trying to weather this latest scandal and come out on top. His main objective in this insult war is to appear as the better, more decent politician, and to push his narrative that the Democrats are the bad ones. As of now, Pelosi is the clear winner of the two, since this political stunt is falling more into her favor. However, given the current political landscape, it’s safe to assume that nothing is set in stone.
There is one clear loser in this fight though, and that’s America. This made-for-TV type of drama is nothing but draining for Americans who are dealing with an already highly politicized world. But one thing is for certain: our government is gridlocked. Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans can honestly get anything done. Trump walking out of a meeting with Pelosi and the other congressional Democrats after an argument ensued shows that there will not be any political wins for either side anytime soon. Americans on both sides of the aisle are likely to stay at a standstill until election season rolls around.