USA TODAY International Edition
Trump, Senate leader make nice
After fighting with each other, they fight for common goals
President Trump led Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to the White House Rose Garden on Monday afternoon to claim unity less than two hours after Trump ripped the Republican Congress in general for failing to deliver on health care and other issues.
During their impromptu appearance, Trump hurriedly grazed through a buffet of topics, including hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, condolence calls to families of dead soldiers, the chances for a tax bill and accusations of Democratic obstruction in Congress. Trump dismissed reports that his campaign was subpoenaed over sexual assault allegations as “fake news.”
“We’re fighting for the same things,” he said with McConnell at his side after a private lunch at the White House.
McConnell, who has clashed with the president repeatedly, said, “We have the same agenda.”
Trump said that previous presidents had not called the family members of troops killed in combat. “The traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls, a lot of them didn’t make calls,” Trump said. He amended that by saying previous presidents had “probably” contacted family members.
During an earlier Cabinet meeting and in the news conference, Trump predicted a short-term health care “fix” this
year and an overhaul next year.
He blamed the Republican congressional majority for a string of setbacks.
“I’m not going to blame myself, I’ll be honest,” Trump said before the Cabinet meeting. “They are not getting the job done.”
Hours later in the Rose Garden, Trump put the blame on Democrats, who are “obstructionists” and “basically just want us to do badly.” The president said his party must “go through hell” to pass legislation because of Democrats, though his biggest defeat as president — the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act — was due to Republican lawmakers’ objections.
Other topics he touched on:
Russia: Trump called the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into his campaign’s contacts with Russia “an excuse for the Democrats losing the election.” The president added, “They ought to get to the end of it because I think the American public is sick of it.”
NFL player protests: Trump repeated his contention that players “taking a knee” during the national anthem are “very disrespectful to our country.” He said the American people are “very angry,” and the players “shouldn’t do it.”
Tax overhaul: Trump said congressional negotiators are making “minor adjustments,” noting that it took President Reagan “years to get it done.”
Trump said he understood why former White House adviser Steve Bannon seeks primary challengers for some GOP incumbents in next year’s elections and wants McConnell ousted from Senate leadership.
“There are some Republicans, frankly, that should be ashamed of themselves,” Trump said.
After his lunch with McConnell, Trump said Bannon is doing what he thinks is right, but there are only a few Republicans who deserve to be targeted. The president said he has a “fantastic relationship” with most Republicans — with only a few “exceptions” — and they should be re-elected.
McConnell wouldn’t comment on Bannon’s attacks. He said the GOP has nominated very conservative Senate candidates in past years who could not appeal to a diverse electorate and lost to Democrats.
The objective, he said, is to nominate candidates “who can actually win,” because “winners make policy and losers go home.”
The main reason for Trump’s complaints about the Republicans was the failure of the GOPrun Congress to pass a bill to repeal and replace Obama’s health care law.
Trump responded last week with an executive order making it easier for associations to buy insurance across state lines, and his administration announced it would stop making subsidy payments to insurance companies. Trump said the latter move cut off the “gravy train” for insurers.
The president said Congress is busy with what he called the failures of the health law.
“They are having emergency meetings to get a short-term fix of health care,” Trump said.
A more extensive plan should come in March or April of next year, he said.
“Obamacare is finished,” Trump said. “It’s dead. It’s gone. You shouldn’t even mention it. It’s gone. There is no such thing as Obamacare anymore.”
In fact, most of the Affordable Care Act remains in place, particularly the expansion of health insurance coverage for low-income Americans under Medicaid and a national marketplace in which Americans can buy health insurance even if they have pre-existing medical conditions.
Trump has also clashed with Republicans over immigration and foreign policy, and he has repeatedly criticized McConnell’s leadership. Sen. Bob Corker, RTenn., likened Trump’s White House to an adult day care center.
The Trump-McConnell meeting took place two days after Bannon told a group of social conservatives that they should take on the Republican leadership, particularly McConnell, for insufficient support of Trump and his agenda.
“Right now, it’s a season of war against a GOP establishment,” Bannon said.
At his Cabinet meeting, Trump discussed a relatively new subject: welfare changes.
The traditional form of welfare, which came in direct payments to low-income Americans, was ended by a major bill by the Republican-led Congress in 1996 that was signed into law by President Clinton, a Democrat.
It was unclear what changes Trump had in mind.
Trump said he and McConnell are “probably now, I think, at least as far as I’m concerned, closer than ever before.”