After address, Trump seeks action

President Donald Trump sought Wednesday to build on the momentum of a speech that invigorated fellow Republicans, as they focused on the hard work of turning his vision into policy.

Following his first joint address to Congress — in which Trump won high marks from Republicans for both his agenda and his measured tone — he convened a lunch Wednesday with leading GOP lawmakers.

“We’re just here to start the process,” said Trump, who was flanked by House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as the meeting began. “It begins as of now, and we think we’re going to have tremendous success.”

Trump was scheduled to meet later Wednesday with members of his own team to talk more about how to advance key parts of his sweeping agenda.

No Democrats were invited to Wednesday’s lunch at the White House with congressional leaders, which press secretary Sean Spicer said was by design.

“To be factual here, at some point the people who set the agenda and the timetable to enact his agenda are Republican,” Spicer told reporters, who were later invited into the luncheon in the Roosevelt Room only briefly.

Spicer said Trump would meet with Democrats — who criticized him Wednesday for not offering concrete plans — in Congress at some other point.

While Trump garnered enthusiastic applause Tuesday from the Republican side of the aisle for marquee items such as replacing former president Barack Obama’s healthcare law and retooling the tax code, major differences remain within the GOP on the specifics of how to move forward.

“I think he understands, as we do, the importance of getting those things done to set the tone for his entire first term,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, one of the luncheon participants.