Trump talks 2025 wish list with House, Senate Republicans in first visit to Capitol Hill since presidency

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump talked about backing his fellow Republicans on the campaign trail this fall and laid out a conservative wish list on issues ranging from tariffs to abortion rights as he met with GOP lawmakers in Washington on Thursday.

It's not uncommon for presumptive presidential nominees to meet with lawmakers from their party to plot their agenda should they win in an election year. But this trip marks the first time Trump has returned to Capitol Hill since leaving office nearly four years ago and when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump said he plans to help the majority of House Republicans win reelection in a nod to the infighting among the group that has at times extended to the campaign trail. Moderate Republicans have endorsed primary challenges against their more conservative colleagues and vice versa, sparking even more tension in the conference.

Trump declined to name names, but the former president has railed against Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., chair of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, for alleged disloyalty. The Virginia Republican is facing a competitive primary challenger who's backed by Trump and the more moderate wing of the House GOP conference.

Trump was also genial with the room of senators he met later on Thursday, including Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Bill Cassidy, R-La., who have been critical of Trump, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., with whom he has had a famously frosty relationship.

"I've been here five years. That's probably the warmest meeting that I have been in with senators and Trump," said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. "He said several times 'I know we've had some disagreements in the room, but we have those, we work 'em out.'"

The visit comes after Trump was convicted by a New York jury in his hush money trial and weeks before he's slated to be formally nominated at the Republican National Convention. The twin meetings with congressional Republicans are supposed to help bring them together as GOP lawmakers have, at times, struggled to agree on major policy priorities, such as providing additional aid to Ukraine.

But the welcome was so warm in Washington that House Republicans sang happy birthday to Trump – who turns 78 on Friday – and gifted him a bat and baseball from Wednesday night's Congressional Baseball Game (Republicans routed Democrats during the annual tradition, winning 31-11). At the Senate meeting, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., presented him with a birthday cake.

Trump met with House Republican lawmakers in the morning at the Capitol Hill Club and gathered with Senate Republicans in the afternoon at the National Republican Senatorial Committee office, both locations adjacent to the Capitol grounds.

However, some moderate members skipped the meeting with Senate Republicans, such as Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. Several of their peers said that's not necessarily a problem.

“I think there’s lots of reasons for people to not show up,” including scheduling conflicts, said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “It's a grand opportunity for us all to get together to kick off the official campaign but also to prepare, possibly, for a transition."

House GOP tries to portray unity and rally behind Trump

The presumptive GOP nominee was "upbeat" during the morning meeting with House members, according to Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and joked about the GOP members in the room who previously voted to impeach him, including, Reps. David Valadao, R-Calif., and Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.

Trump also praised House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and joked with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., telling her to be "nice" to the speaker, according to Norman. Greene led a failed push last month to oust Johnson and has been one of his most vocal critics.

House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a top Republican on Trump's vice presidential shortlist, said at a press conference after the meeting that it was "a unifying event."

The former president also touched on policy, including tariffs and abortion rights, Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., said. Trump reiterated "the Dobbs decision" overturning the constitutional right to an abortion "was the right decision for America and that the American people need to decide the issue as they're doing right now," Hern said.

Trump also brought up a proposal he announced at a Nevada rally to eliminate tax on workers' tips, according to another GOP member in the room.

But Trump also joked about the upcoming campaign season. The former president said Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which will host the Republican National Convention, "is a horrible city," according to a lawmaker in the room.

Several Wisconsin Republican lawmakers quickly pushed back on reports of Trump's comments. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., said Trump was referring to the crime rate in Milwaukee, while Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said Trump did not make those remarks at all.

The Democratic National Committee also seized on those remarks: "Donald Trump and the RNC haven’t even bothered to set up a real campaign operation in Wisconsin – they’d rather stick to telling voters how much they hate the city they chose to hold their convention in," DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said in a statement.

Hours before Trump arrived in Capitol Hill, President Joe Biden's campaign also released a new ad attacking the former president over the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks. "Make no mistake — Trump has already cemented his legacy of shame in our hallowed halls." former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement in an announcement from the campaign.

Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell met for the first time in years

McConnell and Trump have for years had a tense relationship, though the Kentucky Republican endorsed the presumptive Republican nominee in March. The two had not met in person since 2020, as McConnell accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election and blamed the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack on Trump.

But at the meeting Thursday, McConnell and Trump shook hands. Trump even went out of his way to say McConnell is not to blame for Republicans failing to win control of the Senate in 2022.

During the Senate meeting, Trump also spoke about his abortion position – reiterating that he believes states should decide how and whether to regulate it. He also delved into Republican priorities on immigration, energy and the economy, and he did not repeat his unfounded claim that the 2020 election was stolen: "He talked about the future. What we did in the past, what we're going to do again. That we're in good shape but taking nothing for granted," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Trump also spoke extensively about the plan to eliminate taxes on tips, which he "thinks is a great example of how working people in this economy just cant get ahead," said Hawley.

Trump went into detail on energy policy, according to Barrasso, including plans to protect gas-powered cars.

The meetings may have also served another purpose: Giving Trump face time with several of the people he is considering as his running mate. That includes Sens. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as well as House members such as Stefanik and Byron Donalds, R-Fla.

Trump reportedly named all three of the Senate contenders in the afternoon meeting, but he spent the most time praising Scott.

He told Fox News following the Senate meeting that his future pick for vice president was "probably" in the room with him.

"I think we'll probably announce it during the convention," he said. Adding that he has a "pretty good idea" of who his pick will be.

Multiple senators said Trump expressed optimism about the path to victory for senators in competitive states this fall. Democrats are on offense this year in the race to control the upper chamber. That's because Democratic incumbents hold most of the vulnerable seats, including in two states that Trump won by a large margin in 2020, Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

In the days leading up to Trump's meetings with Republicans in Washington, GOP lawmakers told USA TODAY they expected the gatherings to be critical for building a working relationship should the GOP take full control of Washington, picking up the White House and the Senate and maintaining control of the House.

That kind of sweep would be an uphill battle for either party.

“That’s the main thing that we need to make sure we talk about: That we communicate for the next few months, have a plan going into January,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. As for what was on the table? “You name it. All the crap that we had to put up for four years.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump meets with Republicans in Congress to talk 2025 GOP priorities