Any port in a storm: Trump and McConnell (em)brace for the midterms
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It started out a tad rocky between the tempestuous rager in the Oval Office and the calculating grayscaler from the stony halls of Congress. As the AP writes of the Donald Trump/Mitch McConnell saga: This time last year, the two men were barely on speakinAny port in a storm: Trump and McConnell (em)brace for the midterms
It started out a tad rocky between the tempestuous rager in the Oval Office and the calculating grayscaler from the stony halls of Congress. As the AP writes of the Donald Trump/Mitch McConnell saga: This time last year, the two men were barely on speaking terms. Trump bashed the GOP leader on Twitter after the collapse of Republican efforts to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care law. McConnell said Trump had “excessive expectations” for what was possible. The phone lines between them went quiet for days. And publicly, Trump barked, “Mitch, get to work,” while on golf holiday at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Things got so testy, the two even held an awkward truce summit in the Rose Garden last fall. But two pivotal moments likely tamed Trump. First, Trump got shamed last year after he placed his bets on serial sexual predator Roy Moore, the preferred Alabama Senate candidate of McConnell archrival Steve Bannon. That ended well ... for the Democrats. Then the GOP-led Congress managed to finally hand Trump a legislative win in December with their tax giveaway to multi-millionaires and billionaires, including Trump. Now, as a potential midterm calamity for the GOP approaches, Trump and McConnell have been left clinging to each other as their House counterpart Paul Ryan steers his life raft to safety in the ultimate show of courage. Republicans in the White House and on Capitol Hill see their priority as working more closely to prevent a blowout, said one former administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private thinking. With any luck, there will be nothing but gale-force winds ahead for this desperate duo. Read more