Susan Collins urges Bob Corker, Donald Trump to end their public feud

Sen. Susan Collins on Monday urged fellow Sen. Bob Corker and President Trump to end their public feud and focus on the issues.

“I don’t think that the Twitter war between him and the president is productive, and I’d like to see them get back to working on the Iran legislation, for example,” Ms. Collins, Maine Republican, said on MSNBC.

Mr. Corker and Mr. Trump got into a heated exchange via social media last weekend with the president saying the Tennessee Republican didn’t have “the guts” to run for re-election. Mr. Corker fired back calling the White House “an adult daycare center” and later accusing Mr. Trump of possibly putting the U.S. on a “path to World War III,” in an interview with The New York Times.

The Failing @nytimes set Liddle’ Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. Was made to sound a fool, and that’s what I am dealing with!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2017

Ms. Collins acknowledged that she and Mr. Corker are friends and added that Mr. Trump’s more unconventional approach has caused more “chaos” than past presidencies.

“There’s no doubt that this president has been extremely unconventional in his approach and that has caused more chaos than I think is good for our country, and for our relationship with both our allies and our enemies,” Ms. Collins said.

“I would urge the president to remember that every single word he says matters. When he was in the private sector, in the business world, he could make an off-the-hand comment, and it really didn’t matter. Even as a candidate, it could be excused because he was running for political office. But he is now president of the United States of America and every word that he says counts, and that is why I’d encourage him to be more careful with his rhetoric,” she said.

Ms. Collins said Mr. Trump needs to remember that everyone around the world is listening to him and that he needs to consider how is words will sound to them as well.