Former President Donald Trump returned to Capitol Hill for the first time since Jan. 6, 2021, and addressed several issues related to his 2025 agenda, should he win reelection in November.
As the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, the former president’s hold over the GOP has only increased as he squashed primary rivals, battles against four criminal cases, and consolidated support among his base nearly four years after leaving office.
Trump first met with House Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club before participating in a business roundtable meeting and huddling with Senate Republicans at the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the afternoon.
In his meetings, Trump took pointed shots at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), one of his most arduous sparring partners, reportedly trashed Milwaukee, the host city of the Republican National Convention, and heaped praise on lawmakers vying to join his presidential ticket or move up in GOP leadership.
Here are the Washington Examiner‘s top takeaways from Trump’s day in Washington.
GOP mostly falls in line behind Trump
Several congressional Republicans who have clashed with Trump in the past pushed aside those disagreements and attended the meetings with the former president. It is another indirect sign that the GOP has become the Trump party.
Most notably, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attended the afternoon session despite a frosty history with Trump. The two men have not spoken since the aftermath of the 2020 election, though McConnell did endorse the former president after it was clear he would become the presidential nominee in March.
After the afternoon meeting, McConnell said he spoke and shook hands with Trump.
“It was an entirely positive session,” the Kentucky Republican said.
McConnell, who is stepping down as the Senate GOP leader at the end of this Congress, is hoping to deliver a Senate majority to Trump should defeat President Joe Biden in November.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) also attended the morning session at the Capitol Hill Club but declined to speak about the meeting.
Trump has endorsed Good’s primary challenger, John McGuire, as payback for Good supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) primary challenge against Trump. The former president is expected to participate in a tele-town hall with McGuire on Monday.
The primary for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District is set for Tuesday when Good will learn the fate of his political career.
While in Washington, Trump repeatedly proclaimed GOP unity would help defeat Democrats, ahead of the first debate against Biden and the Republican and Democratic conventions in the summer.
“What’s happening to our country is of great concern to the group of people standing alongside of me, and I just wanted to say that we have great unity,” Trump said in brief remarks Thursday afternoon flanked by Senate Republicans. “We have great common sense. A lot of very smart people in this room and a lot of people that love our country.”
“He used the term ‘saving the country,’” Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) further elaborated on Trump’s closed-door comments. “This is important to save the country, and he outlined the issues that he thought were part of that: the border crisis, the attack on domestic-produced, American-made energy, [and] inflation. Those were a couple of the key topics.”
Yet some Senate Republicans opted not to attend or were undecided on the meeting with Trump until the last moment.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who twice voted to impeach Trump, was not originally scheduled to attend the meeting but, after a flight cancellation, was able to make the event. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who also voted to impeach Trump in 2021, initially said he was unsure before he too ended up attending the meeting.
“I was elected to work for Louisiana and the United States of America,” Cassidy wrote on X. “I commit to working with President Trump if he is the next president—and it appears he is going to be—to make things better for all.”
Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told the Washington Examiner they wouldn’t attend because of busy schedules.
Don’t shy away from abortion, Trump says
On the same day the Supreme Court upheld the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, an abortion medication pill, Trump urged his party members to go on the offensive against Democrats on abortion.
Democrats successfully galvanized voters over the matter during the 2022 midterms to stave off severe losses, did so again in the 2023 off-year elections, and are hoping to replicate that success in November to counter Biden’s struggles on taming inflation.
But multiple lawmakers confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Trump said the GOP should instead argue that the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a win for states’ rights and brandish Democrats as too radical on abortion.
“[Trump] said make sure that you exercise your own conscience to talk about it, share your conviction, and do that in a way that makes sense to people, and I think he made a good point,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters. “The states are handling the issue right now, and that’s where he’s comfortable keeping it. We’ve made the point that before you can have political consensus on a difficult issue, you have to have cultural consensus. And right now, we just don’t have the numbers in Congress to do anything on the federal level.”
Abortion has remained a political hurdle for the GOP, but it appears Trump wants the party to unite around leaving abortion to be a state-level matter and supporting some exemptions despite pressure from anti-abortion groups for a federal abortion ban.
Senate Republicans seek spotlight with Trump
Republicans in the upper chamber seeking higher office clamored to appear close to Trump during his remarks Thursday afternoon.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who is running to succeed McConnell as leader of the Senate GOP, stood almost next to Trump as he spoke.
Trump heaped praise upon Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who is a top contender to join his presidential ticket as a running mate, and mentioned other vice presidential contenders such as Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).
“He did make a big deal of how much better Tim [Scott] was at being a surrogate than being a candidate in terms of his humility, which was very sweet,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told the Washington Examiner. “It’s very respectful, and rightfully so, because it’s really quite a remarkable characteristic with Tim Scott.”
Vance told reporters that “no real Republican with any credibility in the party is still blaming” Trump for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
“Some of his critics were in the room and were supportive and are supportive, so I think it’s a good thing, and I think the Republican Party is in a good place,” Vance continued.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), who is running for the No. 2 spot in the Senate Republican conference, gave Trump a cake ahead of his 78th birthday on Friday.
Dust-up over Trump’s exact comments on Milwaukee
Punchbowl News reporter Jake Sherman earned the ire of the Trump campaign and several Republican lawmakers when he posted on X that the former president had insulted the host city of the GOP convention in July.
“Milwaukee, where we are having our convention, is a horrible city,” Sherman claimed Trump told House Republicans.
“It’s a total lie,” the Trump campaign pushed back in an email. “President Trump was explicitly referring to the problems in Milwaukee, specifically violent crime and voter fraud.”
The campaign then pointed to lawmakers who disputed Sherman’s reporting.
“I was in the room,” Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) posted. “President Trump did not say this. There is no better place than Wisconsin in July.”
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) claimed Trump “was specifically referring to … the CRIME RATE in Milwaukee.”
Democrats pounced on the comments, with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson claiming that “All of us lived through his presidency, so right back at ya, buddy” when asked about Trump’s comment that Milwaukee was a “horrible city.”
Biden did not directly call out Trump, but in an X post he wrote: “I happen to love Milwaukee.” The post also included an image of the president with the Milwaukee Bucks at the White House in 2021.
Republicans, though, are sticking to the script that Trump’s remarks were misquoted.
“I was in the meeting,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) posted on X. “President Trump never disparaged Milwaukee. Just another Democrat hoax.”
Trump surprise endorses Larry Hogan
In a move no one saw coming, Trump endorsed former Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in his bid to win the open Senate seat as Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) retires.
“I’d like to see him win,” Trump told Fox News. “I think he has a good chance to win. I know other people made some strong statements, but I can just say from my standpoint, I’m about the party, and I’m about the country. And I would like to see him win.”
Hogan was not aware that Trump’s support was coming and in a statement, his campaign appeared to reject the endorsement.
“Gov. Hogan has been clear he is not supporting President Trump, just as he didn’t in 2016 and 2020,” campaign manager Mike Ricci said.
Trump’s support comes after his co-campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, threatened Hogan’s campaign after he urged the public to respect the outcome of the New York hush money trial against Trump.
“You just ended your campaign,” LaCivita wrote to Hogan on X.
In deep-blue Maryland, Trump’s support may not boost Hogan against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, as it has done for other Republicans during the 2024 primary cycle. But a Republican win in Maryland would almost certainly help the GOP retake control of the Senate.
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However, Democrats were eager to link Hogan to Trump after the endorsement in the hope that it would tank his campaign.
“Donald Trump wants Republican Larry Hogan in the Senate,” a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson said in a simple statement.
Cami Mondeaux and Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.
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