Cummings, Trump relations appeared to sour due to oversight

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Elijah Cummings said somebody once told him he might see one guy when he met with President Donald Trump and “another guy” the next day.

Cummings eventually saw that other side of Trump — when Trump disparaged the longtime Baltimore-area congressman as a “brutal bully” and his district as a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess.”That was after Cummings yelled at a Cabinet secretary during a hearing on migrant family separations.

Relations between the veteran Democrat and the Republican newcomer seemed off to a positive start after Trump took office, encouraged by a shared interest in lowering prescription drug prices.

But things soured after Cummings, in his new role leading the House Oversight and Reform Committee, ramped up oversight of the White House and administration.