WASHINGTON (Reuters) - US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tried to interpret the footage she has taken and has been widely publicized since Tuesday night when she rose from her seat and clapped warmly after President Donald Trump ended his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill.
Pelosi's videos, applauding Trump, evoked a lot of sarcastic reactions and quickly spread through social networking sites and became one of the most memorable moments of the State of the Union speech.
However, Pelosi claims that the applause was not mocking but real.
I wanted him to know that he was very welcome, "Pelosi told reporters.
Pelosi's applause came after Trump, in his traditional presidential address on the state of the Union, promised to help reject "policies of revenge" and seize "the unlimited potential of cooperation and compromise."
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But after this promise, Mr Trump again warned the Democrats who control the House of Representatives to expand their investigations into his relations with Russia, asserting that "ridiculous and biased investigations" threaten the US economy.
In contrast, Pelosi replied that such threats had no place in the House of Representatives.
"My arrival is trying to make a name for himself," said Trump, head of the House Intelligence Committee, who is increasingly investigating the case.
Trump is under investigation for possible ties with Russia. The main investigator is investigating special prosecutor Robert Mueller who is trying to find out especially whether there is collusion or cooperation between the Trump and Moscow campaign team in 2016.
Trump frequently criticizes the investigation and considers it a "chilling pursuit", accusing Muller of working for the Democrats.
However, Adam Schiff, who is conducting an increasingly extensive investigation into Trump's relations with Russia, confirmed on Wednesday that his committee would deepen its planned investigation into suspected illegal relations between foreign entities and the Trump district.
"The committee must ... provide a comprehensive report on what happened with the American people," Schiff said, and tell the people "what the United States should do to protect it from future interventions."
