U.S. President Barack Obama and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer were seen in a spirited discussion Wednesday over what the governor said was something she had written in a recent memoir.

A pool report said the two officials traded words, out of earshot, when the government met the president at a Phoenix airport Wednesday during a stop in his three-day U.S. tour. At one point the governor was seen pointing a finger at the president.

Later Governor Brewer told reporters Mr. Obama was “a little disturbed” about the way she had described a previous meeting with him in her book Scorpions for Breakfast, published in November 2011. In the book, the governor said Mr. Obama was “condescending” when she met with him at the White House in 2010.

She also said she was glad he had come and that she would “regroup,” or recover from the incident.

A White House official on Wednesday said Brewer “inaccurately” described the 2010 meeting. The official said the discussion came after Brewer handed the president a handwritten letter asking for a second meeting with him. The official said the White House meeting was “cordial” and also said the president would be glad to speak with Governor Brewer again.

The Democratic president and the Republican governor have previously clashed over immigration policy in Arizona, which shares a border with Mexico.