Live updates: Trump touts unity after meeting with Republicans

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) described a meeting between former President Trump and Senate Republicans as “terrific”, saying lawmakers marked Trump’s upcoming birthday.

“We did not sing happy birthday but there was a birthday cake,” Cruz said. “It was a sheet cake that had 45 on it in candles and then we added 47.”

The Texas senator said the main takeaway from the meeting was a sense of unity among Trump and his fellow Republicans, noting that talking points ranged from the economy, the southern border, national security and tensions in the Middle East.

“Everyone was on the same page,” the senator said. “We were all focused on winning in November and turning the country around, and the president was in very good spirits.”

— Tiah Shepherd

Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), two moderates who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, did not attend Thursday’s meeting.

Two others who also voted to convict, Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), were in attendance.

— Al Weaver

Trump went out of his way to praise Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) multiple times during Thursday’s meeting, a Senate Republican told The Hill.

The senator said Trump “making a point to project a positive attitude toward Mitch. … Never a reference to any disagreement.”

Trump also didn’t mention anything about his convictions in New York.

The member described the meeting as a “pleasant surprise.”

“He was really in a conciliatory, kind of team-building demeanor,” the member said.

— Al Weaver

Trump touted the unity within the GOP after meeting with Republican senators Thursday afternoon.

“But this is an outstanding group of people. I’m with them a thousand percent. They’re with me a thousand percent. We agree just about on everything and if there isn’t, we work it out,” he said at a press conference following the meeting.

“And we’ve had a I’ve had a really great relationship with just about everybody here, with everybody here, just about all of the senators. And if it wasn’t fantastic, it gets worked out. And we have one thing in mind and that’s making our country great,” he added.

He said one thing they all have in common is wanting “to make American great again,” adding that the U.S. is a “declining nation.”

—Lauren Sforza

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Thursday spoke and shook hands with former President Trump during meeting at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the first time the two leaders have spoken since their falling out in 2020.

“We had a really positive meeting. He and I got a chance to talk a little bit, shook hands a few times,” McConnell told reporters after the meeting.

“It was an entirely positive meeting,” he added. “I can’t think of anything out of it to tell you that was negative.”

— Alexander Bolton

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) was the first senator to emerge from the meeting and told reporters that Trump gave members a state-of-play rundown on his campaign, including on fundraising.

“He was speaking well and humorously, and making the case for his campaign,” Cassidy said. “He just spoke in general about the campaign, how well it’s going.”

Cassidy noted that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) didn’t speak while he was in attendance.

The Louisiana senator was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial in 2021. He and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) were the lone two of that group to attend Thursday’s lunch at the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s headquarters.

— Al Weaver

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) criticized former President Trump’s disputed remarks about Milwaukee while speaking to House Republicans on Thursday morning.

Trump reportedly called Milwaukee “horrible,” though Republicans are insisting that he was referring to crime in the state’s largest city. Milwaukee is set to play host to the Republican National Convention next month.

“Stop picking on Wisconsin. Stop picking on Milwaukee,” she told The Hill. “We make the best brats there, the best cheese there. We make Harley Davidsons there. They’re hardworking people and it’s a great city in a great state.”

Baldwin is up for reelection and is expected to face Republican Eric Hovde in November.

— Al Weaver

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, is entering the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the former president’s meeting with GOP senators.

— Al Weaver

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), one of former President Trump’s most outspoken Senate Republican critics, attended the meeting with Trump at the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (NRSC) headquarters, despite initially not planning to do so.

Romney said he had been scheduled to attend an event in Florida Thursday afternoon but had to miss it because of flight cancellations due to heavy rains.

“The airline changed the plans. All the flights to Palm Beach have been cancelled and so I can’t make the event I was planning [to attend.] As a result, I’m going to go to lunch,” Romney said as he joined his colleagues in heading to the lunch meeting with Trump being held a few blocks from the Capitol.

Romney, who says he will not vote for Trump, said he doesn’t plan to say anything at the meeting.

“I’m going to listen,” he said. “He may have something to say to me but I doubt that, too.”

Romney said, however, that he’s interested to hear what the Republican senators on Trump’s vice-presidential shortlist will have to say at the meeting.

“Their questions could be interesting,” he said.

— Alexander Bolton

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that Trump had “very complimentary” things to say about the House GOP leadership team and told Johnson he was doing a good job.

“We have to have continuity in leadership,” Johnson said.

“And so we lost a few steps, right, at the beginning of that Congress, the 115th Congress, because the plan was not fully prepared and the implementation lagged a little bit. We’re not going to make that mistake again. And so what we’re doing right now — you never put the cart before the horse — but we have to plan to lead because there’s so many problems to fix.”

— Emily Brooks

Among the many ways Trump has shifted away from the traditional conservative playbook has been his strong embrace of tariffs on international trade. During his meeting with House Republicans, he promised to push more tariffs in a second term — and GOP lawmakers say they’re ready to support them.

Trump talked about the topic “at great length,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, said afterwards.

“He’s a big believer in tariffs, and I think he’s probably done more to impact the thinking of the Republican conference than [anyone else],” he added.

Trump said tariffs are needed because “other countries have taken advantage of the United States, and we have tools [to address it],” Cole said.

— Mike Lillis

Trump told GOP members that he was surprised that Taylor Swift did not support him, given that he signed into a law a bill to help songwriters, according to Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.).

— Emily Brooks

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), who faces a Trump-endorsed primary challenger, had no comment leaving the meeting.

Good is the head of the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus.

— Emily Brooks

Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) leaving the meeting said Trump told members to be very careful about how they talk about abortion policy and to show respect for women.

— Emily Brooks

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Trump’s meeting with House Republicans “was a pep rally” as he walked out of the building.

— Mychael Schnell

Among the crowd gathered outside the Capitol Hill Club was a lone Democratic lawmaker: Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), who is recently returned from a bipartisan trip to Normandy, France, to commemorate D-Day. She wondered how the Republicans on that visit could hail those who fought for democracy in World War II, then pivot to support a presidential candidate who sought to overturn the 2020 election results, threatening to disenfranchise millions of American voters in the process.

“How could you not draw a parallel?” she asked. “Because we are here at such a really important time in our history, and the world’s history, and we have a job to do. And they’re here in servitude to the most corrupt, corrosive, criminal president the country will ever have.”

— Mike Lillis

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) said there were a couple of standing ovations for Trump, and that the message was to “vote for the team,” rather than policy talk.

He said the atmosphere was enthusiastic.

— Emily Brooks

Trump briefly discussed the debate over transgender athletes, per sources in the room.

He said men shouldn’t be playing in women’s sports, sources add.

— Mychael Schnell

Trump spoke about abortion in the post-Roe era, two sources in the room said.

He pushed for exceptions and said the issue was too important to ignore, a source added.

Trump said the GOP is the party of “common sense” on abortion, immigration, border, taxes and other issues, according to a source in the room, and railed against liberal positions on abortion.

— Mychael Schnell

Trump is talking about beating Republicans who voted to impeach him, two sources in the room tell The Hill.

He specifically mentioned former Reps. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), sources say. They both lost to primary challengers in 2022.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), who also voted to impeach, was in the meeting.

— Mychael Schnell and Emily Brooks

Trump gave Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) a shoutout for winning her primary this week, according to sources in the room.

Mace, who was one of eight Republicans to vote to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and faced blowback from within her party, won the primary for her House seat on Tuesday night. She fended off challenger Catherine Templeton.

— Mychael Schnell

Trump asked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to be nice to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), three sources in the room told The Hill.

One source noted it was said in a joking way and added that Trump also complimented Greene.

Greene earlier this year triggered a motion to vacate against Johnson, which was tabled. Trump had indicated his support for Johnson and encouraged lawmakers to table the motion.

— Mychael Schnell and Emily Brooks

Trump is now talking to lawmakers about the status of states in lead up to November, including poll numbers in battleground states, according to a source in the room.

— Mychael Schnell

House Republicans sang Trump “Happy Birthday” during their meeting this morning, according to sources in the room.

Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) then gave Trump a game bat and ball from last night’s GOP win in the congressional baseball game. Republicans beat Democrats 31-11, a source said.

— Mychael Schnell

Trump’s motorcade has just arrived at the Capitol Hill Club, where he is set to meet with House Republicans.

— Emily Brooks

The anti-war group Code Pink is also outside, shouting to “free Palestine, end the genocide now.”

One sign says “Fund ‘America First,’ no $$ to Israel.”

— Emily Brooks

It is packed with reporters outside the Capitol Hill Club as House GOP lawmakers are set to meet with former President Trump shortly.

Outside, anti-Trump protesters are holding signs that say “plotting to overturn an election is not an ‘official act,’ it is a crime” and “failed coup.”

Yells of “don’t drink the kool aid” and “Trump left pence to hang” can be heard as lawmakers enter the venue.

— Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) walked into the Capitol Hill Club, which is where Trump is meeting with House Republicans.

Gingrich was also at the House GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning.

— Mychael Schnell

House Republicans are prepping their legislative plans for 2025 with eyes on controlling all levers of power in Washington next year.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that he’s bullish about the GOP’s chances of not only keeping control of the House, but also seizing the Senate and sending former President Trump back to the White House for a second term.

With that trifecta in mind, Republican leaders are already honing a bold strategy to send a slate of promised policy priorities — everything from tax cuts and deregulation to border security and deficit reduction — to Trump’s desk as swiftly as possible.

“When he comes in, we’ve got to have a very aggressive ‘first 100 days’ agenda,” said Johnson, who huddled with Senate Republicans during their weekly lunch gathering Wednesday.

“The first year will be important, and I think we cannot waste a moment because there’s so many things to do. So in light of that, we’re having discussions with [him] and his team now, and amongst ourselves, to plan accordingly.” 

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

— Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell

Former President Trump is headed to Capitol Hill to strike a unified tone ahead of November with congressional Republicans — including a number of senators he doesn’t always see eye to eye with.

At the top of the list is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whom Trump has repeatedly feuded with since leaving office. The two are set to be in the same room together for the first time since 2020 and their infamous fallout, which has been semirepaired in recent months as the GOP leader officially endorsed Trump’s campaign.

Now, it’s all about unity, and that starts at the top with those two.

“I imagine it’ll be a big bear hug,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) quipped about them. “They’re both adults. I imagine they’ll be cordial and listen attentively. … They’ve both been leaders.”

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

— Al Weaver and Brett Samuels