What started as a Twitter fight ended
with one of the highest ranking Republicans in the U.S. Senate warning
President Donald Trump may be on a course to incite a worldwide war.
Trump
used his Sunday morning to blast U.S. Sen. Bob Corker on Twitter,
lashing out at the
Tennessee Republican days after Corker had his own
harsh words for the administration.
Corker responded with his own rebuke on Twitter. But he left his most scathing comments for an interview with The New York Times, where he said Trump's threats aimed at other countries could set the U.S. “on the path to World War III.”
“I
don’t think he appreciates that when the president of the United States
speaks and says the things that he does, the impact that it has around
the world, especially in the region that he’s addressing,” Corker said,
according to a Times story published online Sunday evening.
"And so, yeah, it’s concerning to me.”
The
back-and-forth started early Sunday in the form of three tweets from
Trump. The president took credit for Corker deciding against running for
re-election, saying he denied an endorsement after Corker "begged" for
one.
"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...," the
first tweet reads.
"..my endorsement). He also
wanted to be Secretary of State, I said 'NO THANKS.' He is also largely
responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal!," reads the second tweet.
Trump's
third tweet says he expects Corker to be a negative voice, adding the
former Chattanooga mayor didn't have the "guts to run."
Minutes later, Corker called the White House an "adult day care center."
"It's
a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone
obviously missed their shift this morning," Corker tweeted.
Todd Womack, Corker's chief of staff, told the USA
TODAY NETWORK the president’s Sunday morning accusations are false.
Instead of Corker begging for the president’s endorsement, Womack
said Trump called the senator early last week and asked him to
reconsider his decision not to seek re-election.
During the call Trump said he would endorse Corker and help him campaign, Womack said.
Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, has been chastised by some conservative opponents for not
doing more to block a procedural bill that allowed the Iran nuclear deal
to proceed last year, although Corker opposed the deal.
Trump
is facing an Oct. 15 deadline to re-certify that deal, in which the
U.S. and five other world powers agreed to ease sanctions on Iran in
exchange for international monitoring of Iran's nuclear program.
Last week, The Washington Post reported Trump planned to "decertify" the deal this week.
Sunday afternoon, Trump used a fourth tweet referencing Corker to again attack him for his role in the Iran nuclear deal.
"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!" Trump tweeted.
During Trump's presidential campaign Corker was seen
as a close adviser and ally. Corker has repeatedly said he was offered
the vice presidency but declined.
After Trump's election, Corker has publicly critiqued the administration. He said the White House was in a "downward spiral"
after reports emerged the president disclosed classified information to
Russian officials. More recently, Corker questioned the president's
competency to lead.
This week, in the wake of Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson fending off reports he called the president a "moron," Corker
said Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis were "people that help separate our country from chaos."
"(Tillerson)
from my perspective is an incredibly frustrating place where as I
watch, and I can watch very closely on many occasions. l mean, he ends
up not being supported in the way I would hope a secretary of
state would be supported...I think he’s in a very trying situation,
trying to solve many of the world’s problems a lot of times without the
kind of support and help that I’d like to see him have."
More: Tennessee Democrats recalculate U.S. Senate race with Corker out
Corker doubled-down on those comments in his interview with The New York Times, also saying most of his Republican colleagues in the Senate share his concerns.
“Look, except for a few people, the vast majority of our caucus understands what we’re dealing with here,” Corker told the Times Sunday,
adding that “of course they understand the volatility that we’re
dealing with and the tremendous amount of work that it takes by people
around him to keep him in the middle of the road.”
In
late September, Corker announced he would not seek a third term. He had
grappled with the decision for some time, he said, but he never
mentioned the lack of a presidential endorsement as a reason he wouldn't
run.
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