U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he steps out from Air Force One in Reno, Nevada, U.S., August 23, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Thursday that a legislative “mess” could have been avoided if Republican congressional leaders had followed his advice to tie debt ceiling legislation to a veterans affairs bill.

“I requested that Mitch M & Paul R tie the Debt Ceiling legislation into the popular V.A. Bill (which just passed) for easy approval,” wrote Trump, referring to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan. “Could have been so easy-now a mess!”