McConnell quietly reconciles with Trump while other GOP senators pursue visibility

Former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) set aside their yearslong rivalry on Thursday to strategize about the GOP’s 2024 playbook and retaking the Senate majority.

Speaking with the former president for the first time since before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, McConnell shook hands with Trump as they greeted for a meeting with GOP senators at Senate Republicans’ campaign headquarters on Capitol Hill.

The two sat next to one another, at one point even fist-bumping, at what was described as a cordial meeting with a “gracious” Trump, according to other Republican senators in attendance.

McConnell declined to stick around for an on-camera press conference with Trump and other Republicans, but he described the private portion of the event as “entirely positive” and said the two of them “got a chance to talk.”

“We have great unity,” Trump said, flanked by GOP senators. “We have great common sense, a lot of very smart people in this room.”

Trump was in town to meet with the Business Roundtable lobbying group and met earlier in the day with House Republicans.

The meeting with Senate Republicans also offered a power play moment for those with higher ambitions within the party.

Republican senators vying to be Trump’s running mate or seeking to be McConnell’s successor as the next GOP leader cozied up to the presidential candidate, ensuring they were in frame with him during Trump’s remarks. That included Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), who are running to be party leader, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), one of several on Trump’s short list for vice president.

During the meeting, Trump name-checked Scott, a former presidential candidate, and the other GOP senators in the VP running, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and J.D. Vance (R-OH).

“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) recalled. “It’s very respectful and rightfully so because it’s really quite a remarkable characteristic with Tim Scott.”

Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), longtime opponents of Trump, did not attend. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) was initially noncommittal but ultimately attended.

“I’ve already made clear that I am not satisfied with either choice that we have as Republicans or Democrats,” Murkowski told reporters.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), the only Republican to twice vote to convict Trump of impeachment, made a last-minute appearance because a previously scheduled flight was canceled. Romney said he did not engage with Trump.

Collins, Murkowski, Cassidy, and Romney are the remaining senators in Congress who voted to convict Trump during the Senate’s impeachment trial.

Allies of the former president described him as subdued and respectful of his outspoken foes during the meeting, a tone Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told the Washington Examiner was “frankly surprising.”

“[Trump] was very encouraging, affirming,” Hawley said. “I didn’t detect any kind of underhanded little barbs or ‘Some of you were wrong about me.’ There was none of that, like, zero. It was extremely gracious.”

Trump acknowledged that “some of us in the room had our disagreements,” according to Hawley, but had an overall message of “Let’s all unite. I appreciate you being here for me, and I’m going to be there for you.”

Abortion access has been a galvanizing issue for Democrats at the ballot box in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court under Trump as the GOP struggles to find a unified stance. Trump reaffirmed his belief that it should be left to the states, according to Cramer.

“He said, ‘That’s my position. I believe in that ruling and going back to states.’ He talked about that you have to follow your own heart on the issue, as far as what kind of policy you might want to promote,” Cramer recounted.

Trump made no reference to specific candidates, according to senators in the room, but more broadly pledged his support to help retake the Senate. Trump also committed to helping down-ballot candidates on the campaign trail heading into November, as Senate Republicans are well-positioned to retake the chamber by flipping several battleground seats.

In a stunning move shortly after the meeting, Trump endorsed Maryland Republican Senate nominee Larry Hogan, despite the former two-term governor’s vehement dislike for Trump and the Trump campaign just two weeks ago declaring Hogan politically dead.

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The Hogan campaign told the Washington Examiner that the support wasn’t reciprocated, and a source familiar with the matter said Trump’s campaign did not provide advance notice of the endorsement.

“Gov. Hogan has been clear he is not supporting President Trump, just as he didn’t in 2016 and 2020,” a Hogan campaign spokesperson said.