Senator Bob Corker Claimed WH Could Bring on 'World War III,' So Trump Gave Him A Nickname

After Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and President Donald Trump kick-started a Twitter feud on Sunday morning, Corker said in an interview with The New York Times that Trump’s actions could be setting the United States “on the path to World War III,” adding that the president treats the office like “a reality show.”

The feud between the senator and the president began on Sunday morning when Trump accused Corker on Twitter of not “[having] the guts to run” for another term in the Senate, according to The New York Times. Things escalated even further on Tuesday when President Trump tweeted that Corker "was made to sound a fool" in recordings from his interview with the Times and gave him a patronizing nickname of "Liddle' Bob Corker."

Trump claimed that the senator “begged” for the president’s endorsement in his Sunday morning series of tweets: “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 my endorsement). He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said “NO THANKS,” Trump tweeted. “He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal! Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn't have the guts to run!”

According to CNN, Corker's chief of staff, Todd Womack, disputed that Corker ever asked Trump for an endorsement. Corker told The New York Times that he could recall several conversations over the past year in which Trump had encouraged him to run for re-election.

“When I told him that that just wasn’t in the cards, he said, ‘You know, if you run, I’ll endorse you.’ I said, ‘Mr. President, it’s just not in the cards; I’ve already made a decision.’ So then we began talking about other candidates that were running,” Corker said.

“I don't know why the President tweets out things that are not true,” Corker said. “You know he does it, everyone knows he does it, but he does.”

The senator, who stood beside Trump during his campaign last year and was briefly a candidate to be Trump’s running mate before he withdrew his name from consideration, told The New York Times that the president is acting “like he's doing 'The Apprentice' or something.” “He concerns me,” Corker added. “He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation.”

Corker did have a sassy tweet of his own, though, responding to the President's attacks by saying that “It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center..."

Corker added, in his interview with the Times that nearly all Republicans in the Senate share the same thoughts as him regarding the president. “Look, except for a few people, the vast majority of our caucus understands what we’re dealing with here,” Corker said. “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.”

The senator, who is close to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also warned of how the president’s actions and tweets undermine the hard work that Tillerson had put in to negotiate with North Korea: “I know he has hurt, in several instances, he’s hurt us as it relates to negotiations that were underway by tweeting things out,” Corker said.

This latest Twitter feud with Corker only further illustrates the rising tensions between Trump and GOP leaders. But even more so, according to CNN, as Trump tries to overhaul the tax code in what might be his last chance at producing a significant legislative achievement during his first year of office, Corker vote will be critical, especially if all Democrats unite against it and the president can only risk to lose two Republicans on the vote.

Furthermore, if Trump does decide to “decertify” the Iran nuclear deal, as The New York Times suggests, since Corker chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Corker will have great influence on how the deal is ultimately handled. Thus, it appears that Trump might need Corker in his corner right now.

Corker, however, has said that Trump has yet to show that he has “the stability nor some of the competence” to be successful as president. “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. “And so, yeah, it’s concerning to me.”