US President Donald Trump says his Republican party needs to "get tougher and fight" against the Democrat led impeachment inquiry.

Trump made the comments during a White House Cabinet meeting in which he again called the investigation "phony" and said "Democrats are trying to hurt the Republican Party" in the upcoming 2020 Election.

A growing number of Republicans have been critical of Trump following his decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, followed by the announcement that the administration would host next summer's G-7 meeting at Trump's Doral private golf club outside Miami.  Trump has since reversed the Doral decision, saying he will host the meetings somewhere else.

Trump said though he believes Democrats "fight dirty" and are "lousy politicians," they have two things he admires: "they're vicious and they stick together."

He then called out Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney for his frequent criticisms of Trump and for "breaking off" from the party.  

"They don't have people like that," Trump said referring to the Democrats. "They stick together."

The president told reporters Democrats want to impeach him "and they want to do it as quick as possible" because he says they're afraid Trump is going to win the election.

Washington, DC - 21 October 2019

1. Wide shot of US President Donald Trump talking in Cabinet room

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"So there's a phony investigation. I watched a couple of people on television today talking about it. They were talking about what a phony deal it is, what a phony investigation it is. And the Republicans have to get tougher and fight. We have some that are great fighters, but they have to get tougher and fight because the Democrats are trying to hurt the Republican Party for the election, which is coming up."

3. Cutaway of Cabinet members

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"(Reporter question: You said the Republicans need to get tougher and fight. What are you talking about?)

Well I think the Democrats fight dirty. I think the Democrats are lousy politicians with lousy policy. They want open borders. They don't care about crime. They want sanctuary cities. They don't care about drugs, they don't care about almost anything. They don't care about USMCA, how about that? I think they're lousy politicians. But two things they have: they're vicious and they stick together. They don't have Mitt Romney in their midst. They don't have people like that. They stick together. You never see them break off. You never see somebody go out and.."

5. Mid shot of Trump speaking

6 . SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"This whole thing is very bad for our country. In the midst of that, I'm trying to get out of wars. We may have to get in wars, too, OK? We may have to get in wars. We're better prepared than we've ever been. If Iran does something, they'll be hit like they've never been hit before. I mean, we have things that we're looking at. But can you imagine? I have to fight off these these low-lifes at the same time, I'm negotiating these very important things, that should have been done during Obama and Bush and even before that. All right. So that's where we are right now."

7. Cutaway of Cabinet members

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"(On impeachment) Well I think they want to. Any Democrat wants to because they're not going to beat me in the election. So of course, they want to impeach. Why wouldn't they want to impeach me? It's so, it's so illegitimate. It cannot be the way the founders, our great founders, meant this to be. But I see this guy, Congressman Al Green, say we have to impeach him, otherwise, he's going to win the election. What's that all about? But that's exactly what they're saying. We have to impeach him because otherwise he's going to win. I'm going to win the election."

9. Wide shot of Trump in Cabinet Room

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"You know you had a Never-Trumper-Bush, you have heard of those. Those people might be worse than the Democrats, the Never-Trumpers. The good news is they're dying off fast. They're on artificial respiration, I think. But, no impeachment, uh, they want to impeach and they want to do it as quick as possible. And that's pretty much the story, ok?"

11. Wide shot of press and Cabinet members

President Donald Trump says his Republican party needs to "get tougher and fight" against the Democrat led impeachment inquiry.

Trump made the comments during a White House Cabinet meeting in which he again called the investigation "phony" and said "Democrats are trying to hurt the Republican Party" in the upcoming 2020 Election.

A growing number of Republicans have been critical of Trump following his decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, followed by the announcement that the administration would host next summer's G-7 meeting at Trump's Doral private golf club outside Miami.  Trump has since reversed the Doral decision, saying he will host the meetings somewhere else.

Trump said though he believes Democrats "fight dirty" and are "lousy politicians," they have two things he admires: "they're vicious and they stick together."

He then called out Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney for his frequent criticisms of Trump and for "breaking off" from the party.  

"They don't have people like that," Trump said referring to the Democrats. "They stick together."

The president told reporters Democrats want to impeach him "and they want to do it as quick as possible" because he says they're afraid Trump is going to win the election.

Washington, DC - 21 October 2019

1. Wide shot of Trump talking in Cabinet room

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"So there's a phony investigation. I watched a couple of people on television today talking about it. They were talking about what a phony deal it is, what a phony investigation it is. And the Republicans have to get tougher and fight. We have some that are great fighters, but they have to get tougher and fight because the Democrats are trying to hurt the Republican Party for the election, which is coming up."

3. Cutaway of Cabinet members

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"(Reporter question: You said the Republicans need to get tougher and fight. What are you talking about?)

Well I think the Democrats fight dirty. I think the Democrats are lousy politicians with lousy policy. They want open borders. They don't care about crime. They want sanctuary cities. They don't care about drugs, they don't care about almost anything. They don't care about USMCA, how about that? I think they're lousy politicians. But two things they have: they're vicious and they stick together. They don't have Mitt Romney in their midst. They don't have people like that. They stick together. You never see them break off. You never see somebody go out and.."

5. Mid shot of Trump speaking

6 . SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"This whole thing is very bad for our country. In the midst of that, I'm trying to get out of wars. We may have to get in wars, too, OK? We may have to get in wars. We're better prepared than we've ever been. If Iran does something, they'll be hit like they've never been hit before. I mean, we have things that we're looking at. But can you imagine? I have to fight off these these low-lifes at the same time, I'm negotiating these very important things, that should have been done during Obama and Bush and even before that. All right. So that's where we are right now."

7. Cutaway of Cabinet members

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"(On impeachment) Well I think they want to. Any Democrat wants to because they're not going to beat me in the election. So of course, they want to impeach. Why wouldn't they want to impeach me? It's so, it's so illegitimate. It cannot be the way the founders, our great founders, meant this to be. But I see this guy, Congressman Al Green, say we have to impeach him, otherwise, he's going to win the election. What's that all about? But that's exactly what they're saying. We have to impeach him because otherwise he's going to win. I'm going to win the election."

9. Wide shot of Trump in Cabinet Room

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Trump, U.S. President:

"You know you had a Never-Trumper-Bush, you have heard of those. Those people might be worse than the Democrats, the Never-Trumpers. The good news is they're dying off fast. They're on artificial respiration, I think. But, no impeachment, uh, they want to impeach and they want to do it as quick as possible. And that's pretty much the story, ok?"

11. Wide shot of press and Cabinet members