(CNN) House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi privately questioned President Donald Trump's "manhood" after a contentious meeting Tuesday about funding his wall at the southern border.

"It's like a manhood thing for him," Pelosi told Democratic members at a closed meeting of the Steering and Policy Committee on Capitol Hill, according to an aide in the room. "As if manhood could ever be associated with him. This wall thing."

Pelosi, in a feisty mood after the heated exchange with the President, also compared the President to a skunk.

"I was trying to be the mom," the California Democrat said, according to the aide. "I can't explain it to you. It was so wild. It goes to show you: You get into a tickle contest with a skunk, you get tinkle all over you."

The press-filled Oval Office meeting had been slated to cover border wall funding and the looming possibility of a partial government shutdown, but it quickly gave way to a reality TV atmosphere, with jabs between the President and Democratic leaders.

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