Trump says he's "taking the high road" by not meeting with Democrats

What he's saying: "I don't need to meet with them to be turned down," Trump told reporters. "They don't want to make a deal because they think if the country does as badly as possible ... that's good for the Democrats."

• "I am taking the high road. I'm taking the high road by not seeing them," he added.

Of note: Trump said that the damaging article from The Atlantic's editor-in-chief, which reported that the president "has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members," was a "totally made-up story" and that "only an animal would say a thing like that."

• He characterized a recent statement from former White House deputy chief of staff Zach Fuentes as a denial of The Atlantic's story, although what Fuentes said is that he "did not hear POTUS call anyone losers when I told him about the weather" and that sources in the article were "conflating stories."