White House Reportedly Furious With Matt Gaetz Over War Powers Vote: ‘Super Uncool’

Matt Gaetz is generally seen as one of the most vocally pro-Trump members of the House of Representatives. This week, he voted with Democrats on a resolution to limit the president’s war powers, saying, “If the members of our armed services have the courage to go and fight and die in these wars, as Congress, we ought to have the courage to vote for them or against them… Engaging in another forever war in the Middle East would be the wrong decision, and that’s why I’m voting for this resolution.”

Gaetz has been defending his vote and saying he’s not taking a position against the president. Earlier today he tweeted, “I enjoy the President’s support and he enjoys mine.”

(1) Still proudly the Trumpiest. I enjoy the President’s support and he enjoys mine.

(2) I was “very shocked” when @GOPLeader voted against @realDonaldTrump on the Turkey/Kurds/Syria Resolution where history has clearly shown @potus to be right and McCarthy & Dems wrong. https://t.co/UDkJmGMFsG

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) January 10, 2020

The Washington Post reports tonight that an email Gaetz sent trying to get other Republicans to vote for the resolution did not go over well with the president and GOP allies:

Trump fiercely complained about Gaetz after aides informed Trump that his office had sent the email backing the resolution, which was pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Trump’s team lobbied heavily against the nonbinding resolution…

A senior White House official said it was “super uncool” and “quite unwise” for Gaetz to push for limits on the president’s authority. This person added that White House officials would not be returning Gaetz’s phone calls, text messages, “smoke signals or his kneelings in the snow.”

One White House official, head of legislative affairs Eric Ueland, told the Post, “The Trump administration was disappointed in the congressman’s vote and is hopeful that as the president’s foreign policy continues to unfold, he will reconsider his points of view.”

The report does note that “Trump is often transactional, current and former aides say, and there is likely a path for Gaetz to return to the proverbial tent.”

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman tweeted that advisers to the president were “incensed” and angrier than he himself was:

A number of potus aides were angrier than potus was about this. He wasn’t thrilled, but his advisers were incensed. https://t.co/ooVPefUZjq

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 11, 2020

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