^ Well, mostly. Former President Trump is taking a rare trip to Capitol Hill today for his first public appearance to the area since a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
What Trump has planned: He met with House Republicans this morning at the Capitol Hill Club. Now, he’s meeting with Senate Republicans at the National Republican Senatorial Committee. He also has a meeting scheduled with business leaders, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
👀List of who’s attending the private CEO meeting
Trump’s goals:
- To unify his splintered party
- To set a policy agenda (though it’s unlikely to get too in the weeds).
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Rally the troops ahead of Republicans’ nominating convention in July.
Are any Senate Republicans skipping?: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Susan Collins (Maine) and Mitt Romney (Utah) said they have conflicts and cannot attend. (Psst, all three voted to convict Trump in 2021.) Sens. Todd Young (Ind.) and Bill Cassidy (La.) are also up in the air.
^Actually — Romney *will* be there: The Hill’s Alexander Bolton posted that “Sen. Mitt Romney is now heading to lunch with Trump at the NRSC because his flight to Palm Beach, which he was supposed to take for an event, was cancelled due to heavy rain.” And NBC’s Frank Thorp posted that Romney “says he doesn’t plan to bring up Jan 6, ‘this is not the place for that.’”
🗨️ Live blog from Trump’s GOP ‘pep rally’ today
Factors at play today:
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Trump’s conviction: This is Trump’s first meeting with congressional Republicans since he was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Politico is reporting that Trump called Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after his conviction, pleading for help to overturn it. Politico’s Rachael Bade noted that Trump dropped a lot of F-bombs during that call “as he spoke with the soft-spoken and pious GOP leader.”
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The McConnell awkwardness: This will be the first time Trump is in the same room as Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) since 2020. The two have had beef since the Jan. 6 attack, and Trump has hurled racist insults toward his wife. McConnell recently endorsed Trump, lowering the temperature of their feud, so today’s meeting will be notable.
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The VP race: Several congressional Republicans have been floated as potential running mates for Trump. Like: Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), JD. Vance (Ohio) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.). More VP speculation
Read more on the Trump-McConnell dynamic: ‘Trump, McConnell set for tricky GOP unity moment’
The Biden campaign has a goal for today: Remind voters of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The campaign unveiled an ad, blaming Trump for the violence.