President Donald Trump finally got some face time with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after the two men hadn’t spoken for weeks.
Trump hosted McConnell and other leaders of a group known as the ‘big six’ to discuss tax reform.
If was the first time the two men had spoken since an angry phone call where Trump reportedly complained about the Russia investigation, following McConnell’s comments to his constituents that Trump was still learning about the pace of the Democratic process.
McConnell was seated at Trump’s left during the meeting, with House Speaker Paul Ryan on his right.
During a June meeting, it was McConnell who was seated on Trump’s right.
TOGETHER AT LAST: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was seated next to President Donald Trump for a meeting on tax reform and other issues
“It is vital that we reduce the crushing tax burden on our companies and on our workers,” Trump said, reading from remarks about tax reform at the top of the meeting.
Afterward, he took a single question, about his DACA decision, and turned down the chance at another, ending with a simple ‘thank you’ to the press.
A statement from the White House secretary didn’t mention McConnell or any of the attendees by name, although the president’s middle initial got a mention.
Trump spoke about the ‘crushing’ burden of taxes
‘This afternoon, key leaders from Congress and the Administration had a productive meeting at the White House with President Donald J. Trump to discuss the priority of enacting historic tax reform that is pro-growth, pro-jobs, pro-worker, and pro-America,’ according to a statement by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
‘The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to reducing the crushing burden of the Nation’s self-destructive tax code, which hurts our companies and our workers, and discussed their desire to make the tax code simple, fair, and easy to understand,’ she said.
She said they agreed Congress should act through hearings and markups ‘as expeditiously as possible.’
‘President Trump expressed his resolve to encourage action and build public support for the passage of tax reform that creates jobs and raises wages for American workers. The leaders also discussed the critical need for funding to support the Hurricane Harvey rebuilding and recovery efforts in Texas and Louisiana,’ she said.
STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU: House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., right, listen as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with congressional leaders and administration officials on tax reform, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017
Also there were Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Council of Economic Advisors Director Gary Cohn.
Vice President Mike Pence and other aides also were there.
At Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Sanders indicated that if Congress can’t fix immigration, they should ‘get out of the way,’ after Trump essentially gave Congress six months to prevent 800,000 ‘DREAMers’ from getting deported.
‘If they can’t then they should get out of the way and let somebody else take their job that can actually get something done,’ she said.
McConnell has raised doubts about whether Trump’s presidency can be salvaged, the New York Times reported.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement after reports he and President Trump haven’t spoken for weeks
Trump blasted McConnell on Twitter for the failure of an Obacare repeal bill. ‘Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal & Replace for 7 years, couldn’t get it done. Must Repeal & Replace ObamaCare!,’ Trump wrote August 10.
Trump and McConnell got into a ‘profane shouting match’ in early August, The New York Times reported.
In private, McConnell also made sharp remarks about Trump’s lack of knowledge about the presidency, and his unwillingness to learn the basics of governing, sources said.
He’s also said – in ‘offhand remarks,’ according to the report – that he is worried and baffled by where Trump is taking his presidency, and questioned if Trump will even be able to lead the party during the 2018 elections.