With less than two weeks before the Republican National Convention begins in Cleveland, Trump is looking to shore up support with GOP representatives and senators even as he faces backlash from some members of the party.
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Trump fueled talk of future presidential ambitions this week when he brought a senior campaign staffer onto his Senate staff, and placed other aides atop two affiliated nonprofits, in moves catalogued by the National Review.
Trump’s meeting on Capitol Hill was an attempt to unify Republicans behind his candidacy since some members have yet to back him.
“It was a pretty relaxing meeting”, she said, “with a good exchange”.
Some senators who attended the meeting said it was largely cordial and thoughtful, and played down Mr Trump’s occasionally gruff tone. “That’s what I got out of today’s meeting”.
“I’ll let you know how I feel about it after it happens”, Trump told The New York Times in a story published Thursday while flashing what the newspaper described as a “mischievous smile”.
Trump has 1,447 pledged delegates, according to The Associated Press. He has managed to annoy party leaders with inflammatory remarks to this day. Trump at one point got in a tense exchange with Arizona Sen. “He thinks he has the ability”, Hardy said.
Not every Republican showed up to the Trump meetings Thursday.
Trump and Cruz were joined by Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, as well as Cruz’s former campaign chairman Jeff Roe. “There was no awkward moment”.
Sen. Mark Kirk of IL wasn’t in Thursday’s meeting, during which Trump supposedly called him a loser.
Well, according to his son Eric Trump and surrogate Sen.
“I think his rhetoric has already had a damaging impact on the party”, Ribble said.
But not everyone was won over. “I still need to be persuaded”.
Sasse remains critical of both Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, saying he doesn’t believe the presidential election is focused on the right things.
Before the 2012 election, the then Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had the support of 21 percent Hispanic voters, and in 2008, the then GOP candidate Sen.
“I’ve been concerned about the incendiary comments and the lack of policy specificity. That’s where I continue to be”, he added.
“I wasn’t particularly impressed”, Sanford told reporters afterward.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN. “He said Hispanics love him”, Dent said.
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Flake reportedly told Trump he was not part of the “never Trump movement”, but had concerns about his party’s presumptive nominee.
