McCARTHY SEEKS TO MEND TRUMP RIFT

WASHINGTON Former president Donald Trump had a fence-mending meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday in which Trump promised to help the party take back the chamber in 2022 congressional elections.

The meeting came three weeks after McCarthy enraged Trump by saying the president bore responsibility for the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump and McCarthy met at the former president's home in Palm Beach, Fla.

Trump had privately vented about McCarthy to his advisers after the California Republican said Trump was responsible for the siege, a source said. McCarthy later backtracked, saying he did not believe Trump had provoked the assault.

Advisers say Trump has talked recently about forming an alternative to the Republican Party, the Patriot Party, which could have disastrous effects for Republicans in elections to come if it were to happen.

But a statement issued by Trump's “Save America PAC” suggested Trump had set aside for now the idea of forming a new party.