McConnell Had ‘Entirely Positive Meeting’ With Trump During Capitol Hill Visit

 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said he had a “positive meeting” with former President Donald Trump on Thursday after Trump traveled to Capitol Hill to talk with Republican lawmakers.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee praised the GOP Senate leader during his comments at the D.C. meeting, POLITICO reported.

“We had a really positive meeting, he and I got a chance to talk a little bit, we shook hands a few times, he got a lot of standing ovations, it was an entirely positive meeting. Mitt Romney was there, as well, and I can’t think of anything to tell you about it that was negative,” McConnell said.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) added that Trump “immediately went in to address Mitch McConnell and said he’s done his best while he was here. He understands elections. And he understands how important two seats are and we need to be focused on those.”

Trump and McConnell have had a rocky relationship over the past four years, and Thursday’s private meeting marked the first time the two had spoken in person since a month after the contentious 2020 election, according to POLITICO. Trump has slammed McConnell for approving Democrat legislation in the Senate, saying in 2022 that the Kentuckian has a “death wish,” which a Trump spokesman said was in reference to “killing the Republican Party through weakness and cowardice.”

McConnell has also blasted Trump, saying he was “practically and morally responsible for provoking” the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

On Thursday at the Republican meeting, however, there was nothing but solidarity, according to some of the senators who attended.

“There was a lot of unity. A lot of people think we’re going in the wrong direction now,” McConnell’s fellow Kentucky senator, Rand Paul said, adding that most of the discussions centered on policy.

 

“I haven’t seen that Republican group as strongly united on all of those policy issues in a long, long time,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), who has also criticized Trump over the former president’s allegations that the 2020 election was “rigged” and “stolen.”

In February, the 82-year-old McConnell announced that he would be stepping down from his Senate leadership after Republicans select a new leader in November. He added that he still plans to serve the remainder of his term as senator, which ends in 2027.