Pelosi's Trump-like taunts are working

Speaker Pelosi, who used to treat President Trump like a naughty grandchild, last week adopted a notably more confrontational public posture, as she tried to defuse the impeachment fever rising among House Democrats.

Why it matters: "Pelosi’s allies said her taunting of Trump now is intentional, designed to get under his skin and elicit an angry reaction," per the WashPost.

• "I wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country," Pelosi said Thursday at her weekly press conference.
• "There’s no question, the White House is just crying out for impeachment," Pelosi added. "That’s why he flipped yesterday."
• Asked about her "intervention" dig, Pelosi warmed to it: "That’s up to his family and his Cabinet and his staff in the White House. This is not behavior that rises to the dignity of the office of president of the United States."

A senior Democratic aide told me: "She’s succeeded in making three things very clear: 1) She’s interested in getting things done and he walked away again; 2) She’s the only adult in Washington and is leading Dems with precision; 3) He’s a toddler who pays a price for attacking her because he resorts to such publicly infantile lows to attack her." 

• Even Trump allies can't believe he keeps falling for it: "I do this with my dog," one of them said.