Pelosi shakes her head at Trump's 'ridiculous' and 'really sick' impeachment rant


President Trump seems to have put a lot of effort into the six-page letter he sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday, a day before the House will vote to impeach him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. "Trump worked on the letter for more than a week, revising drafts with policy adviser Stephen Miller and legislative affairs director Eric Ueland," The Washington Post reports, and he "did not want White House lawyers to review it until the final stages."
The Post characterizes the final product, released on White House stationary and frequently factually inaccurate, as "a rambling and rageful letter" in which Trump called the impeachment process "invalid," "spiteful," "egregious," "meritless," "terrible," "disingenuous," "baseless," "preposterous," "dangerous," "fake," "fantasy," and "illegal." Trump accused Pelosi, among other things, of fake praying. Pelosi told CNN she hadn't yet read the entire letter, as she'd been busy shepherding a $1.4 trillion spending package through the House, but from what she gathered, it's "ridiculous" and "really sick." (Watch at the 5-minute mark.)
CNN's Wolf Blitzer described Trump's impeachment venting as an "angry, rambling letter," CBS's Major Garrett said it "had the seething, ranting hallmarks of a long-form presidential tweet," and MSNBC's Chris Hayes called it "absolutely unhinged, deranged."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Juan Williams was the first one to bring up Trump's letter during Fox News The Five's discussion of how Republicans are winning impeachment, calling the letter "essentially a scream from a guilty man." Nobody agreed with him, and Greg Gutfeld told Williams he's acting like Trump's "own words, when they are loud or aggressive or funny, are somehow proof of guilt."
An anonymous White House official told Politico that despite what tone you might see in Trump's letter, the president isn't "frustrated" at being impeached. "Why would he be frustrated if there's not a single Republican that is going to vote for his impeachment? He won," the official argued. And as for his personal attacks on Pelosi, "he's trolling her now. ... We watched for a year and everybody said, 'Oh she's so powerful now, she's so brilliant.' Show me one power move that she's made. Show me one action that she prevailed on this year. I'm serious."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The rise and rise of VTubers
Under The Radar This anime-inspired internet subculture is going global
By Abby Wilson
-
Book reviews: 'The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip' and 'Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service'
Feature The tech titan behind Nvidia's success and the secret stories of government workers
By The Week US
-
Mario Vargas Llosa: The novelist who lectured Latin America
Feature The Peruvian novelist wove tales of political corruption and moral compromise
By The Week US
-
DHS chief Kristi Noem's purse stolen from eatery
Speed Read Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse was stolen while she dined with family at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Trump stands by Hegseth amid ouster reports
Speed Read The president dismissed reports that he was on the verge of firing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over a second national security breach
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Hegseth reportedly shared war plans in 2nd group text
Speed Read The defense secretary sent information about an attack in Yemen to a Signal group chat that included his wife and brother
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Judge threatens Trump team with criminal contempt
Speed Read James Boasberg attempts to hold the White House accountable for disregarding court orders over El Salvador deportation flights
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cuts
Speed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deportee
Speed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Trump says electronics tariff break won't last
Speed Read The tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices are temporary, the administration says
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Man charged in arson attack on Pennsylvania's Shapiro
Speed Read Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping when someone set fire to his Harrisburg mansion
By Peter Weber, The Week US