Everyone involved seems to be trying to put the best face on it, but Barack Obama went so far as to suggest senior Democrats like Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who take a hard line on Iran, are doing so purely to appease their donors.

Obama said that as a former senator himself, he understood how outside forces — like special interests and donors — can influence senators to act, one of the senators recounted.

Menendez scoffed at the notion in what’s being reported as a “heated exchange” with Obama according to other senators in the room. His contention being, it’s better to negotiate from a position of strength, as opposed to the weakness Obama seems to like to show America’s enemies.