WASHINGTON — Faced with a mushrooming economic crisis, President Bush dealt Friday not only with a Congress fractured over how to respond but world leaders worriedly watching the U.S. meltdown spread into their economies.
The financial crisis was a chief topic when Bush met at the White House with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and also during a phone call earlier in the day from French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Both leaders were intensely interested in whether Washington would rally on a multibillion-dollar Wall Street rescue aimed at preventing broader economic catastrophe and made certain their support for bold action.
“Facing global turbulence, Britain supports the financial plan,” Brown said after a session with Bush that lasted nearly two hours. “Whatever the details, it is the right thing to do to take us through difficult circumstances.”
