WASHINGTON – Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and President Donald Trump had it out during a closed-door meeting at the Capitol on Wednesday. It started with Trump demanding to know why anyone would vote for a resolution to end the war in Iran, as four Republicans had done on Tuesday, despite ongoing peace negotiations. “He asked, ‘Why would anybody vote for the War Powers Act?’ As he continued, I said, ‘Is that a rhetorical question, or would you like to really know?’ He said, ‘I’d like to know,’” Cassidy told reporters after the meeting. “I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on. It was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved, and I want to know what’s going on.’”Cassidy said he told the president he’d continue voting for resolutions to end the war until the administration gives lawmakers a briefing. He said the account was not necessarily verbatim, but other senators confirmed there’d been a testy exchange. “As I recall,” Cassidy continued, “he did not particularly care for my comments, raised his voice. I lost my temper — that’s inappropriate, it’s the Irish in me — but I again matched his tone and his volume, and it went back and forth, but at some point, my guys said, ‘All right, Bill, sit down,’ and so I sat down and tried to de-escalate.”The conversation was about the Iran war, but the confrontation came as the president had repeatedly needled senators. Last week, he upended Senate plans to confirm their preferred candidate to lead U.S. spy agencies, and early on Wednesday, Trump announced he wouldn’t sign a bipartisan housing bill until Congress passes an election bill that’s already failed in the Senate repeatedly. He’s also endorsed primary challengers who have successfully ousted both Cassidy and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).Senators have also been upset by the president’s handling of the Iran war. The administration has refused to brief them on the peace deal he’s negotiating, which includes terms weaker than those of a deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama’s administration that Republicans have spent more than a decade condemning. “I am sticking up for the American people, even if I’m speaking to the president,” Cassidy said. Of course, Cassidy might not have found himself sticking up for the American people if the president had not endorsed his primary opponent and ended his Senate career. Cassidy cast his first vote against the war in Iran after losing his primary last month. He also voted to convict the president for inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Cassidy said the president mocked him for losing the election. “You know, whatever, you know, comes to mind as to demean another person,” Cassidy said. “Of course, I lost the election. Way to observe that!”At one point, the Louisiana senator stopped referring to Trump as “Mr. President” and called him “brother,” Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) told reporters.Several Republicans trickled out of the lunch tight-lipped, offering apparently sarcastic responses about everything going well.“A spirited conversation,” is all Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said, ducking into the Senate chamber.“Lots of unity,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told reporters with a smug look on his face. “Lots of Republican love on Republicans.”Asked if he was joking, he replied, “Me? Sarcastic?”Justice said it was clear that Cassidy and Trump were each spoiling for some sort of confrontation. The president seemed to come to the meeting mad about Cassidy and a handful of other Republicans voting to publicly rebuke his war in Iran, he said, and Cassidy is likely still sore about Trump torpedoing his reelection.“It’s hard not to harbor feelings,” Justice said. “Because Bill Cassidy voted for impeachment, you know? And Bill Cassidy just lost the election. So he’s feeling bad. The president still harbors bad feelings. I mean, all that’s natural.”As for the tone of their exchange, he said both were respectful but “expressed their feelings and didn’t hold back.”RelatedRepublican PoliticsCapitol HillBill Cassidy