Trump flips script on Dem outrage over comments on foreign dirt

A defiant President Trump pushed back Thursday against the outrage over his comments that he would be open to accepting opposition research from individuals from foreign countries, arguing he should have no obligation to call the FBI in certain cases while trying to turn the tables on Democratic lawmakers over their own foreign contacts.

“I meet and talk to ‘foreign governments’ every day,” the president tweeted Thursday.

Citing recent conversations with leaders in the United Kingdom and Ireland, France and Poland, Trump said, “We talked about ‘Everything!’ Should I immediately call the FBI about these calls and meetings? How ridiculous! I would never be trusted again.” He initially included a widely mocked spelling error referencing the "Prince of Whales" but later corrected it.

The president was fighting back amid the backlash over his interview with ABC News on Wednesday, where Trump was asked what he would do if a foreign power offered dirt on his 2020 opponent. "I think I'd want to hear it," Trump said, adding, "There's nothing wrong with listening."

The comments revived calls from 2020 Democratic presidential for Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against Trump, including from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kirsten Gillibrand and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke.

But in tweets Thursday, Trump tried to turn the tables on prominent Democratic lawmakers.

“When Senator @MarkWarnerVA spoke at length, and in great detail, about extremely negative information on me, with a talented entertainer purporting to be a Russian Operative, did he immediately call the FBI?” Trump asked. “NO, in fact he didn’t even tell the Senate Intelligence Committee of which he is a member.”