Trump, seeking GOP unity, has tense meeting with Senate Republicans

WaPo ^ | 7/7/16 | Sean Sullivan and Philip Rucker

[ObozoMustGo2012]

Donald Trump’s private meeting Thursday with Senate Republicans — designed to foster greater party unity ahead of the national convention in Cleveland — grew combative as the presumptive presidential nominee admonished three senators who have been critical of his candidacy and predicted they would lose their reelection bids, according to two Republican officials with direct knowledge of the exchanges.

Trump’s most tense exchange was with Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has been vocal in his concerns about the business mogul’s candidacy, especially his rhetoric and policies on immigration that the senator argues alienate many Latino voters and others in Arizona.

When Flake stood up and introduced himself, Trump told him, “You’ve been very critical of me.”

“Yes, I’m the other senator from Arizona — the one who didn’t get captured — and I want to talk to you about statements like that,” Flake responded, according to two Republican officials.

Flake was referencing Trump’s comments last summer about the military service of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict. Trump questioned whether McCain was a war hero because he was captured.

Flake told Trump that he wants to be able to support him — “I’m not part of the Never Trump movement,” the senator said — but that he remains uncomfortable backing him, the officials said.

Trump said at the meeting that he has yet to attack Flake hard but threatened to begin doing so.

Flake’s spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Trump also called out Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) — who withdrew his endorsement of Trump last month, citing the business mogul’s racially based attacks on a federal judge — and said he did not approve of the senator’s action, the officials said.

Characterizing Kirk as a loser, Trump vowed that he would carry Illinois in the general election even though the state traditionally has been solidly Democratic in presidential contests. Kirk did not attend the meeting with Trump.

Trump also singled out Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who has refused to support Trump and has emerged as perhaps the most vocal advocate for a third-party candidate. Sasse declined to speak with reporters as he left the meeting.

“Senator Sasse went to today’s meeting ready to listen. Senator Sasse introduced himself to Mr. Trump, and the two had a gracious exchange,” said James Wegmann, the senator’s spokesman. “Mr. Sasse continues to believe that our country is in a bad place and, with these two candidates, this election remains a dumpster fire. Nothing has changed.”

Trump’s trip to Washington on Thursday highlighted the continuing concerns among congressional Republicans over controversial remarks he continues to deliver on the campaign trail and how they may affect GOP members facing tough reelection battles in the fall.

Before his meeting with Senate Republicans, Trump visited with the House GOP conference in what leaders billed as a chance for rank-and-file members to get to know the party’s presumptive presidential nominee.

“What I thought was especially helpful today was our members just got access and got to ask their questions and talk about their issues,” said House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). “I thought he did a great job engaging with our members, and I think our members appreciated it.”

Ryan said members talked to Trump about the constitutional roles of the president and Congress, reducing regulations and overhauling the tax code — all issues included the “A Better Way” policy blueprint House Republicans have rolled out in recent weeks.

“We clearly have a presumptive nominee who wants to work with us on moving this agenda forward,” Ryan said.

Trump was greeted by applause from more than 200 House GOP members at the standing-room-only gathering, according to GOP aides, and was introduced at the event by financial commentator and TV personality Larry Kudlow. Trump opened the discussion with a speech on the importance of appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court, members said.

In his discussion with senators, Trump claimed that he had inside intelligence about Hillary Clinton’s vetting process for Supreme Court vacancies and that he knew the names of two people the presumptive Democratic nominee is considering nominating, two Republican officials said. But Trump would not reveal those names.

Trump has long cited vacancies on the Supreme Court as a reason for Republicans to unify behind his candidacy, pledging that he would appoint more-conservative justices than Clinton.

Despite House leaders positive statement about the gathering, several GOP lawmakers leaving the morning meeting said they are still unconvinced that Trump can be a good standard bearer for the party.

“I still need to be persuaded,” said Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), a moderate member of the conference.

Several lawmakers said questions were raised about derogatory comments Trump has made about minorities and women, as well as his inability to stay on message.

Trump dismissed the issue and insisted he has great support from Hispanics, Dent said.

[Donald Trump praises Saddam Hussein for killing terrorists ‘so good’]

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) described Trump’s remarks in the meeting as “a lot of stream of consciousness” akin to what he says at rallies but “less cheery.”

He said Trump brought up his recent comments about Saddam Hussein “in the context of how unfair the media has been to him.” Trump has praised the former Iraqi dictator for being “so good” at killing terrorists while adding that’s all he thinks was good about a “bad guy, really bad guy.”

Kinzinger called Trump’s previous comments about Hussein “disgusting and despicable.” He said it was “awkward” to hear the GOP nominee defend his remarks in the room.

Other members expressed confidence that Trump understands he needs to tone down his rhetoric.

“If you look at the trajectory of his unforced errors, he’s getting better,” said Rep. Bill Flores (R-Tex.). “I mean, he’s not where we want him to be, but he’s getting better.”

[Trump says campaign shouldn’t have deleted image circulated by white supremacists]

The gatherings with House and Senate Republicans came after Trump said at a rally in Ohio on Wednesday night that it was a mistake for his campaign to remove a tweet attacking Clinton with a six-pointed star placed on top of a bed of money. The image reportedly appeared last month on an online web forum frequented by white supremacists and has widely been condemned as anti-Semitic.

The controversy started to quiet by Tuesday, as Republicans moved to draw attention to Clinton’s email practices as secretary of state, which had come under investigation by the FBI. But now, it has returned to the forefront of the national political debate.

[While Clinton tries to change the subject, Republicans pounce on email criticism]

Trump repeatedly said Wednesday that the six-point star was “just a star,” not the Jewish Star of David, and that media outlets that covered the controversy are “racially profiling.”

House members leaving the meeting said Trump did not address the controversy in his remarks and was not asked about it by members.

When asked whether he was bothered by the tweet, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), the only Jewish Republican in Congress, said: “I don’t think it helps him.”

[Cobra64]

Actually, by that time, none of us will even be allowed to vote.

[huckfillary]

Flake’s a Flake. That said, consider the source of the article, the Washington Post. If the Post says the meeting was “tense” in all likelihood it was completely amicable.

[billyboy15]

Notice that the words attributed to Trump in most cases were not in quotes and were not even said at this meeting but are repeated from an earlier time.

Trump is again correct about the lying media.

[SoFloFreeper]

The Washington comPost is not a reliable source. Are there any other accounts?

[Cobra64]

What these anti-Trump jerks do not understand is that Trump remembers those who are loyal and those who are not loyal. Trump will somehow dissolve the political careers of the latter. It will be fun to watch Trump scorn in action towards his enemies.

[Rashputin]

Screw all those RINO bastards.

Trump's being polite but he knows they're all for sale, what the going rate is, who has rented or bought them in the past, and what dirty little secrets they have in their closets.

After the convention these RINOs will either start falling in line or start having problems over what they're involved in or have done in the past.

Trump's "Luca Brasi" who left the campaign is about like someone retiring from the CIA.

Don't believe it. He's totally loyal and is just cut loose so that if anything goes awry there's deniability that he's working for the Trump campaign while in reality he's out getting the matches in place to give a whole lot of these Congress Critters a hot foot if they don't come around.

Trump knows he has to fight fire with fire and isn't afraid to do so.

JMHo

[Buckeye McFrog]

Trump is not going to kiss their rings or feed the egomania of the Princelings sitting in the Senate. A dose of that is BADLY needed in Washington, DC.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The Washington comPost is not a reliable source. Are there any other accounts?

Just a bit off-topic....an acquaintance of mine is friends with a certain GOP Congressman. He has gotten first-hand accounts from this guy about meetings in which Obama was incredibly rude and condescending to the GOP Caucus (alternately falling asleep and delivering finger-wagging lectures to them).

The Oooompa Loompa John Boehner of course embargoed any stories or photos of this from making their way to the media.

[nikos1121]

Why is this leaked out and made public?

[Hostage]

> “Trump might derail the DC gravy train.”

That’s really what is at the bottom of all the anti-Trump hysteria. The money is not flowing like it was hoped it would.

Presidential election years are the high season for politicians and their enablers. Like Halloween is to candy sellers, Trump has cancelled a lot of the sugar, and the candy pushers are very upset.

[plain talk]

Yeah I read it. Ryan is a phony. Can’t believe anything he says. All these guys including Trump need to get their act together to defeat Hillary.

““I wasn’t particularly impressed,” said Sanford. “It was the normal stream of consciousness that’s long on hyperbole and short on facts. At one point, somebody asked about Article I powers: What will you do to protect them? I think his response was, ‘I want to protect Article I, Article II, Article XII,’ going down the list. There is no Article XII.”

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), who said he was “uncomfortable” with Trump’s language, gave him a pass on the Constitution flub. “When he made the comment about the Constitution, I love this Article and that Article, I assumed he was talking about the Amendments, because he was off on the numbers,” he said.

But both Griffith and Sanford tempered their criticism, contrasting Trump’s sometimes slipshod approach to Clinton’s adroit politicking. “He may be loose on some facts, reckless on some, but there’s not malicious intent there,” said Sanford.

[mbrfl]

Flake is just begging to be b*tch slapped.

[grania]

It's a no-brainer. When Trump wins, it purges the scum both sides of the aisle. He can build a new coalition across the aisle that is serious about wanting to save the US.

It cannot be done with the political manure that prevails among the Republicans in the US Senate.

Sasse is as bad as Ayotte, and Flake. It was just two years ago he presented himself as a Constitutional Conservative, out of the main stream. People who bare-*ssed lie disgust me. Keeping them in office does us no favors.

[LS]

Or get him to somehow come to their positions when they haven’t been loyal at all.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Flake and Kirk are card carrying RINO’s on their best day. At one point Flake was voted most hated Senator by the public.

[billyboy15]

Lol how obvious does it need to be for you to see the question about Article 1 is a gotcha question asked by a no trumper?

Sure I believe Ryan here because. I KNOW he dislikes Trump and yet spoke favorably about the meeting.

In any case a simple reading of the entire wapo ztory shows it to be an air ball, a nothing story meNt to paaint a picture of dissension among the ranks of Rep and that is not new and it is also meant to draw attn away from Clintons disastor of Tues and today.

[PhilCollins]

Since I live near Chicago, I know about Sen. Kirk. During most of the time that he’s been in Congress (including the House and Senate), his ratings from Planned Parenthood have been 100%, and his ratings from Gun Owners of America have been 0%. He wants to give amnesty to illegal aliens.

I’m the campaign manager of Chad Koppie, Kirk’s Constitution Party opponent. If you know people who want to help Chad, by volunteering and/or donating, please ask them to read his site, www.chadkoppie.com. Chad says that the liberal vote will split among Sen. Kirk, Congresswoman Duckworth, and Scott Summers (of the Green Party), helping Chad win with 20%.

[Georgia Girl 2]

I hope Chad wins.

[SaraJohnson]

Everyone, consider the source reporting here!

[bigbob]

Your man just got my vote.