Donald Trump's Rude Interruptions

Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

The US President made headlines again – this time for being a churlish cur. 

During an Oval Office meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Donald Trump interrupted Nancy Pelosi (right) no less than fifteen times. 

I suppose Trump pretended not to know or couldn’t care less about good manners – but he must still be reminded that when someone interrupts a conversation, they show disregard and disrespect for the person speaking. 

And that to put it plainly, is gracelessly rude. 

In fact, the whole country was treated to this scenario in full glaring color on national television. 

Pelosi, minority leader of the House of Representatives and arguably the most powerful woman in the country, had to fight Male-Pattern Balderdash, as commentator Joanne Cleaver cleverly calls it. 

Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and the nation's top two Democrats, Senate Minority Leader New York’s Chuck Schumer and Pelosi met to discuss another looming government shutdown. 

Trump threatened that he won't sign the government spending bill for next year unless it includes the $5 billion in funding for his border wall project. Democrats have so far promised Trump only $1.6 billion. 

[Note: The spending bill is set to expire December 21 and if a new bill isn't passed by then, the government will shut down]. 

Trump started the meeting with more than five minutes of uninterrupted spinning on the supposed benefits of a border wall. 

Yet just 20 seconds after he invited Pelosi to speak, Trump jumped in and questioned why she was calling this a "Trump shutdown".

Another 10 seconds, another interruption. 

And the frequency only escalated from there, reaching 15 total interruptions. 

The tension came to a head when Trump launched a few more rapid-fire interruptions, and finished by saying "it's not easy for [Pelosi] to talk right now." 

Pelosi coolly fired back: "Please don't characterize the strength that I bring to this meeting".

And yet, when Trump asked Schumer to speak, the former waited 40 seconds before talking over the senator. Schumer interrupted Trump in return, and the two descended into something just short of a shouting match. 

Pence, meanwhile, spent more than 16 minutes without saying a word. 

When will men ever learn to treat women right?

On Friday, I was at the Fonterra Brands Malaysia Toastmasters meeting in Jalan Delima 1/1, Subang Hi-tech Industrial Park in Shah Alam, Selangor. I was a Table Topics Evaluator, Grammarian and an Assignment Speaker. 

My speech was a CC #9 titled “Self-confidence is an Illusion”. 

One more speech and I will have completed my Competent Communication manual Round #52.