Thread: Trump’s day of unity turns into GOP crackup

Trump’s day of unity turns into GOP crackup

Trump wanted to rally Senate Republicans around tax reform — but found himself being condemned by members of his own party.

By SEUNG MIN KIM, JOSH DAWSEY and ELANA SCHOR
10/24/2017 07:08 PM EDT

President Donald Trump strode into the Senate GOP lunch Tuesday in what Republicans hoped would be a unified show of force as the party launched its ambitious tax push.

Instead, the day was bookended with brutal critiques of Trump’s leadership from two adversaries from his own party freshly liberated to speak their minds — overwhelming any attempts to seal the cracks in a deeply fractured Republican Party.

Trump reignited his feud with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker of Tennessee, who ramped up his criticisms of his onetime ally by saying the president will be most remembered for “the debasement of our nation.” As that battle seemed to settle down, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) abruptly announced he would retire and laid into Trump in a searing assessment from the Senate chamber: "Reckless, outrageous and undignified behavior has become excused as telling it like it is when it is actually just reckless, outrageous and undignified.”

“None of this is normal. And what do we as United States senators have to say about it?” Flake said in his speech. “I have children and grandchildren to answer to. And so … I will not be complicit or silent.”

This day wasn’t supposed to be like this. And it underscores deepening Republican fears that Trump’s personal spats will undermine GOP priorities, most notably tax reform.

Trump had been mending fences in his oft-tenuous relationship with GOP senators, starting last week by dining with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and inviting members of the powerful Senate Finance Committee to the White House. During the lunch, Trump was exceedingly complimentary — especially toward McConnell — on the Senate’s confirmation of judges, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

The lunch, Trump’s first visit with Senate Republicans on their turf at the Capitol, was supposed to continue that momentum and unity as the GOP gears up in earnest for tax reform.

But rather than looking forward, Trump talked largely about his own accomplishments in his first year and declined to give much direction on the nitty-gritty of policy, particularly on divisive issues where lawmakers had been clamoring for more direction.

There wasn’t much from Trump on what a tax overhaul should look like except that they should be focused on the middle class: “He said wealthy people don’t need the help,” recalled Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, “but we need to get jobs back in this country which means we need to deal with the business rates, the corporate tax and pass-through rates.”

But Cornyn added: “We know what the job is, what we have to do. It wasn’t a whole lot about taxes.”

Rather than talk specifics, Trump’s message on taxes, according to Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), was more: Let’s get it done.

On health care, it was more of the same: Trump praised Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) — who has crafted a bipartisan bill to stabilize Obamacare markets — yet didn’t say whether he actually backs the legislation, senators said.

And inside the lunch, it was as if the caustic spat between a president and a powerful committee chairman of his own party hadn’t even happened. Corker and Trump had no interaction during the hour-long lunch, senators said, and no other lawmaker brought up the elephant in the room. Trump and Flake didn’t talk during the lunch, either.

Also left unsaid: Senate Republicans’ ongoing battle with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon who has vowed to unseat nearly all GOP incumbents on the ballot this cycle.

The lunch agenda was largely focused, the mood mostly business-like and even light-hearted at times. Trump called at least two dozen of the Republicans by their first names, adding to the cordial tone, Roberts said.

Trump ribbed Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — who’s bucked Republicans on the budget and Obamacare repeal — and asked him, “But you’re going to be with us on taxes, right, Rand?”

The senator responded: “I’m with you on taxes,” according to the source familiar with the lunch.

In one unusual moment, Trump asked for a show of hands from Republicans on whom they favored as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, senators said. Trump also seemed to step away slightly from his hardline immigration stance — Cornyn said the president remarked that his long-prized border wall could be a fence in some places, particularly where it’s important to be able to see through to the other side.

“It was a very positive meeting,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said. “Nobody called anybody an ignorant slut or anything.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/1...r-flake-244127

Corker and Flake decisions to grandstand against this President is back-firing big-time. No one cares. Most are glad they're getting out of Congress. This will boost sales for Flake's book, at least, that's what he hopes for and is why he's doing it. Corker thinks he wants to run for President on his Iran Nuke Deal.

Have you noticed how bad Corker's hair is looking lately? That bald spot is big, when he's talking to a tall guy the cameras are up high and man, with a full view, that thing is huge!! Trump's hair is looking really good now, that White House Barber does a good job!! It could still be a little shorter. On the campaign trail, it was forever between Trump haircuts. Clip it a little shorter and it will look great, keep it off the ears and above the collar.

“It was a very positive meeting,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said. “Nobody called anybody an ignorant slut or anything.”

See? All good in the Senate. The only people bad-mouthing anyone are the two losers, Corker and Flake. And of course, Trump, who punches back anytime anyone says anything nasty about him, but that's okay, he should fight back. You start it with Trump, and he'll finish it. Most people can count on that and should.