Trump on impeachment: ‘I’m not bitter’

The president told television anchors ahead of his State of the Union address that he’ll defer comments about impeachment until his acquittal a day later.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is unlikely to smack congressional Democrats who voted to impeach him when he gives his State of the Union speech Tuesday night.

“I’m not bitter,” Trump told several news anchors during a private lunch Tuesday afternoon, according to two people familiar with the discussion.

Despite delivering the prime-time address in the same room where House Democrats voted to impeach him on two articles — obstruction of Congress and abuse of power — less than two months ago, Trump said his tone Tuesday night would be “extraordinarily low-key.”

Instead of using the stately occasion to air his grievances — something Republican lawmakers privately expressed concern about leading up to State of the Union — Trump said he will wait to speak about impeachment until Wednesday, when he is expected to be acquitted by the Senate.

Meanwhile, Trump will use the annual address to contrast his economic policies and the current state of the U.S. economy with the costly policy proposals offered by Democratic presidential candidates. He told news anchors his speech would include a “modified” version of the anti-socialism shtick that’s become a staple of his 2020 campaign rallies.

At one point during, Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked the president how he will feel when he arrives on Capitol Hill to face Democrats — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will be seated just behind Trump on the elevated dais — who have spent the past several months accusing him of criminal behavior while in office.

“I’ll be fine,” Trump told the room.

People familiar with the lunchtime conversation described it as cordial, adding that the president appeared to be in good spirits after he coasted to an overwhelming victory in Iowa’s GOP caucuses Monday night against a handful of competitors.

At a briefing with reporters earlier this week, White House officials described the theme of Trump’s speech as “the great American comeback,” adding that he will approach the occasion with “relentless optimism” about the economy, recent trade agreements and the opportunity for healthcare reform.

Trump did take several swipes at Democrats during the Tuesday lunch. According to one attendee, the president speculated “out of the blue“ that progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) would run against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is up for reelection this fall.

“I think AOC is going to run against Schumer and I think she‘ll kick his ass,“ the president said of the freshman congresswoman.

Trump also spent several minutes discussing Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, at one point saying he and the Vermont senator have similarly energetic bases and share some overlap in their approach to trade policy. The Sanders campaign claimed earlier Tuesday that he finished with the most delegates in Monday's Iowa caucuses, according to internal data that has yet to be confirmed by Democratic party officials in the Hawkeye State.