Trump & McConnell BFFs right after slam
President Trump and Mitch McConnell on Monday made a show of telling the media what great pals they were — just hours after the president agreed with exadviser Steve Bannon’s harsh critique of the Senate majority leader.
“Despite what you read, the relationship is better than ever,” Trump said in a Rose Garden press briefing with McConnell.
He also said the Kentucky Republican would get health-care reform passed, calling McConnell “a great man” who is “going to get it done.”
McConnell seconded that sentiment, saying that “we are working together” to pass tax reform.
“We’ve been friends and acquaintances for some time. Contrary to what some of you may have reported, we are together totally on this agenda to move America for-rward,” McConnell said.
“The goal is to get it done byby the end of the year.”
But they also gave themselveses an out — noting that it took PPresi-i dents Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan far longer to pass key agenda items.
During the 40-minute news conference, the president also:
Said he would declare the opioid crisis a national emergency “probably next week,” two months after first saying he would do so.
For the first time blamed Cuba for the mystery sonic attacks that injured US diplomats in Havana, saying he does “believe Cuba is responsible.”
Accused Big Pharma of charging “double or triple or quadruple” the price for prescriptions in the United States than it does for the same drugs in other nations.
Crowed that Clinton-era FEMA Director James Witt gave the federal government an “A+” for hurricane response, including in Puerto Rico.
“Puerto Rico has more generators, I believe, than any place in the world,” Trump said.
Took a swipe at Hillary Clinton, saying that her support for NFL players who take a knee during the national anthem was why she lost the election. “Hillary, please run again!” he quipped.
Said he was not going to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, but again denied any collusion with Russia, saying such claims were cooked up by Democrats as an excuse for losing the election.
The president’s tone toward McConnell was far more conciliatory than earlier in the day, when he bashed the GOP-controlled Congress and praised Bannon, who had declared “war” on McConnell and the GOP establishment over the weekend.
The Breitbart chief said he would look to force primaries against Republicans who did not share Trump’s America First agenda.
“Steve is doing what Steve thinks is the right thing. I can understand where Steve is coming from,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting as McConnell’s wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, sat nearby.
“We are not getting the job done. I’m not going to blame myself. They are not getting the job done,” Trump said about Congress.