Thomas D’Alesandro III, a former Baltimore mayor and brother of Nancy Pelosi, died of stroke complications at his North Baltimore home on Sunday. He was 90 years old. “My husband Paul and our entire family are devastated by the loss of our patriarch, my beloved brother, Thomas D’Alesandro III,” Pelsoi said in a statement released by her office. “Tommy was the finest public servant I have ever known.”
Despite the Pelosi family’s loss, Trump took to Twitter to rebuke the House Speaker for leading a surprise congressional visit to Jordan over the weekend. “Pelosi is now leading a delegation of 9, including Corrupt Adam Schiff, to Jordan to check out Syria,” the president tweeted. “She should find out why Obama drew The Red Line In the Sand, & then did NOTHING, losing Syria & all respect. I did something, 58 missiles. One million died under Obama’s mistake!”
In response, Christine Pelosi highlighted the president’s lack of sensitivity in light of D’Alesandro’s death. “You misspelled ‘Melania and I extend our condolences to Speaker Pelosi on the death of her beloved brother Thomas D’Alesandro III,’” she tweeted.
This weekend, Pelosi led a nine-member congressional delegation to Jordan, during which the lawmakers discussed Syria with members of the country’s royal family. The group of top lawmakers included House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson and Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel.
“This evening, our bipartisan delegation was honored to meet with His Majesty King Abdullah II, Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, Prince Feisal bin Al Hussein, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and senior Jordanian officials,” Pelsoi said in a statement on Saturday evening.
She added: “We expressed our continued appreciation for the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Jordan and engaged in a constructive dialogue on regional stability, counterterrorism, security cooperation, Middle East peace, economic development and other shared challenges.”
The trip comes days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence brokered a five-day cease-fire between Syria and Turkey following Trump’s widely criticized decision to withdraw U.S. troops from locations in northern Syria.
In her statement, Pelosi noted that the delegation’s visit comes at a “crucial time for the security and stability of the region.”
“With the deepening crisis in Syria after Turkey’s incursion,” she added, “our delegation has engaged in vital discussions about the impact to regional stability, increased flow of refugees, and the dangerous opening that has been provided to ISIS, Iran and Russia.”
