Trump leaves for Tokyo — live updates
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are heading to Tokyo Friday, as tensions rise between the president and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and as he orders more troops to head to the Middle East to handle Iran.
CBS News has confirmed that the new deployment of forces to the Persian Gulf will include more Patriot missile batteries and other force protection systems and will be designed for the long-haul confrontation with Iran, CBS News’ David Martin reports, citing U.S. officials.
Mr. Trump told reporters before departing the White House that some “very talented” people going to Middle East, and about 1,500 people will be sent to the Persian Gulf.
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A congressional aide also confirmed to CBS News that Congress was notified the administration plans to send 1,500 troops to the Middle East.
The president also said of the resignation of British Prime Minister Theresa May that he feels bad and likes her very much. He also mentioned that he’d be seeing her in two weeks, when he travels to Europe.
Mr. Trump told reporters he has not yet made any decisions on pardoning U.S. forces accused of war crimes. He said he planns to take a look at the cases.
Overnight, the president tweeted a heavily edited video of Pelosi that aired on Lou Dobbs’ Fox Business show, a video edited to make Pelosi’s speech appear mumbled and incomprehensible. On Thursday, Pelosi suggested Mr. Trump’s family or staff should stage an intervention for the president, prompting Mr. Trump to suggest the nation’s most powerful female politician is “a mess” and “crazy.” The president, taking questions from reporters at an event in which he announced more bailouts for farmers hurt by his trade war with China, spent much of his time blasting Pelosi and questioning her competence.
The president, defending his performance in a roughly five-minute infrastructure meet with Pelosi and Schumer that fell apart earlier this week, insisted he is an “extremely stable genius.”
“When the ‘extremely stable genius’ starts acting more presidential, I’ll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues,” Pelosi followed up in a tweet.
Mr. Trump appeared to roll back his criticism of Pelosi before reporters on Tuesday.
“I don’t know about the videos, I’m here to help the country,” Mr. Trump said.
It remains to be seen whether the president will tone down his language abroad.
In Tokyo, Mr. Trump is scheduled to meet Japan’s emperor, as well as attend a sumo wrestling event. A senior administration official says Mr. Trump and Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe are likely to hold a joint press conference at some point on the trip.
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