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How Trump is reacting to news of the impeachment inquiry

By Jaclyn Reiss Globe Staff,Updated September 25, 2019, 3:51 p.m.
Watch: ‘The president must be held accountable,’ Pelosi says
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump. (handout)

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that Democrats would be launching an official impeachment inquiry, President Trump began tweeting his thoughts on the matter.

At first, Trump bemoaned the announcement taking away from his “important day” at the UN, in which he delivered a speech earlier in the day focusing on the defense of nationalism.

“The Democrats purposely had to ruin and demean it with more breaking news Witch Hunt garbage. So bad for our Country!” Trump tweeted.

He then started tweeting about specific Democrats.

Trump then began talking about his call with the president of Ukraine, which is the subject of a congressional investigation and is part of a mysterious whistle-blower complaint by an unidentified intelligence official. Trump said earlier Tuesday afternoon that he had ordered the release Wednesday of the “complete” and “unredacted” transcript of the call.

The next tweet from Trump was fairly straightforward.

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Trump’s presidential campaign subsequently sent out a statement on the matter, alleging that “Democrats can’t beat President Trump on his policies or his stellar record of accomplishment, so they’re trying to turn a Joe Biden scandal into a Trump problem.”

“The misguided Democrat impeachment strategy is meant to appease their rabid, extreme, leftist base, but will only serve to embolden and energize President Trump’s supporters and create a landslide victory for the President,” the statement from Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale said.

In her 5 p.m. announcement of the impeachment inquiry, Pelosi said the investigation centers on whether Trump abused his presidential powers and sought help from a foreign government for his reelection, actions Pelosi said would mark a ‘‘betrayal of his oath of office.’’

She declared: ‘‘No one is above the law.’’

An hour after her announcement, Trump tweeted again, suggesting Ukraine’s government also thought their phone call was not “a big deal.”

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Before Pelosi official unveiled the news, several outlets published reports noting that she was expected to announce the inquiry.

When asked about the move about a half hour before Pelosi’s announcement, Trump told reporters, “If she does that, they all say that’s a positive for me” in the election, according to a White House pool report.

“You could also say, who needs it? It’s bad for the country. Then they all wonder why they don’t get gun legislation done, then they wonder why they don’t get drug prices lowered, because all they do is talk nonsense,” Trump said, according to the pool report. “We have the strongest country in the world, the best economy we’ve ever had, and she’s talking impeachment.”

Trump also said that Pelosi “hasn’t even seen [the transcript of] the phone call,” adding, “It was a perfect call.”

“If it’s true, I can’t even believe that it’s true,” Trump said. “How can you do this and you haven’t even seen the phone call?”

“The good news is the voters get it,” Trump said, according to the pool report. “This is why they say it’s good for the election, but you know what? It’s bad for the country, what she’s doing is very bad.”

Hours after Pelosi’s announcement, Trump tweeted multiple clips from Tuesday night’s Fox News broadcasts. He continued Wednesday morning, tweeting again that he believed he was being treated unfairly.

Wire material from the Associated Press and Bloomberg News was used in this report.

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