Republicans reveal what Trump talked about in his closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill

Eric Garcia and Katie Hawkinson
·4-min read

Donald Trump met with House Republicans on Thursday, marking his first visit to the Hill since before the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots.

The former president met with members of his party behind closed doors, just weeks ahead of the Republican National Convention — where Trump will be named the party’s presidential nominee — and five months ahead of the 2024 election.

Dueling protesters heckled Republicans as they filed into the Capitol Hill Club, where Republicans often hold their meetings. Some protesters held signs calling Republicans “boot lickers” and warned them: “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.” Other protesters from Code Pink, a radical anti-war group, protested US support for Israel.

The meeting is part of a full day for Trump in Washington. Afterwards, he will stick around in the city, where he is expected to record an appearance on social media star Logan Paul’s podcast.

Trump is also set to address a gathering of CEOs this afternoon, as he continues his trend of explicitly offering to enact or dismantle policies to benefit major donors. Afterward, he will meet with Senate Republicans, though some of his biggest critics in the Senate GOP conference will not attend.

Many Republicans expressed optimism to The Independent after their morning meeting with him.

“We talked about the border, talked about the crazy inflation rate, things that we need to fix,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said.

Others said that Trump spoke about numerous subjects, ranging from helping Republicans down-ballot, to abortion, to the war in Ukraine.

“He talked about exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother,” Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina told The Independent. Mace, who previously criticized Trump for his actions on January 6, received his endorsement ahead of her primary on Tuesday, which propelled her to victory despite her vote to eject Kevin McCarthy as speaker last year.

Mace has previously expressed concern that Republicans’ messaging on abortion would repel female voters.

“He talked about, ‘it's in the people's hands now, and that we have to speak about abortion correctly,’ which is a message that the party needs to hear,” Mace added, in conversation with The Independent.

Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives, with 17 Republicans hailing from seats that voted for President Joe Biden. The direction of the House could easily hinge on how voters decide the presidential race.

But Representative Marc Molinaro of New York, a Biden district Republican, did not seem concerned going into the meeting with Trump, noting how his district voted for Trump in 2016.

“I am exceptionally tied to the people that I represent,” Molinaro said. “So if President Trump's going to deliver to make it easier for the people of upstate New York, then that will be better than what they've been experiencing these last four years.”

Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, one of Trump’s strongest allies in the House, told The Independent that Trump would be a boost for Republicans on the ticket.

“President Trump talked about his specific strategies he was going to use to ensure that Trump voters show up in November and that they go all the way down the ticket,” he said. “He was there to really let Republicans know that he was there to elect big majorities in the House and the Senate and that he thought that would be essential to getting his agenda accomplished.”

President Joe Biden’s campaign denounced Trump’s visit.

Representative Bennie Thompson — who served as the chairman of the House select committee that investigated the January 6 riot — put out a statement that read: “Since January 6th, Donald Trump, a twice-impeached convicted felon, has repeatedly doubled down on his disrespect for the rule of law and continues to sow hate and division. He still presents the same dire threat to our democracy that he did three years ago — and he’d be wise to head back to Mar-a-Lago and await his sentencing.”

Republicans in attendance seemed unbothered by Trump’s recent legal woes, which include being convicted of 34 charges in New York.

Representative Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania served as an manager for Trump’s second impeachment, which was related to the January 6 riot.

“Every one of themselves has given over their soul, their credibility, in service of one man who is a criminal,” she told The Independent outside of the Capitol Hill Club.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • Sunak may have made the biggest electoral mistake in British history

    When the history of this election campaign comes to be written, one question will perplex the compilers more than any other: why now? The Tory officials and police officers being investigated for alleged gambling law infractions by betting on a snap contest in July will have secured very good odds for the simple reason that no one was expecting it.

  • Newsmax Slaps Very Awkward Note On Screen During Donald Trump Interview

    Critics on social media suggested the chyron meant one thing.

  • Reform puts British people first – how is that a wasted vote?

    This is just a hunch, but I imagine some of you are as sick as I am of hearing that a vote for Reform is a wasted vote. Let me tell you what a wasted vote is. Casting my ballot in December 2019 with a song in my heart for the Conservatives. Nothing I voted for came to pass. Worse than that, in many cases the alleged Tory government did precisely the opposite of what I wanted. Every Conservative principle I held dear trashed.

  • The Tories have abandoned the one thing that made them electable

    The outcome of the general election is now considered such a foregone conclusion that the post-mortem examination is being conducted while the corpse is still twitching. Many pundits and politicians seem to think that the Government’s imminent demise can be explained by its failure to listen to one faction or another.

  • 'Shouldn't Be Allowed To Make Stuff Up': James Cleverly Left Stuttering Over His Migration Claims

    "It's invented, isn't it, James?" Labour's Yvette Cooper said.

  • Trump, progressives suffer a rough night: 5 takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries

    Tuesday’s contests in Colorado, New York, South Carolina and Utah saw the first incumbent House Democrat to lose in a primary this cycle, along with several losses for Trump-endorsed candidates. The progressive wing of the Democratic Party suffered a major blow when Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) lost to Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a moderate,…

  • George Conway Tells Trump What The Rest Of The World Really Thinks About Him

    He also revealed what will happen if Joe Biden provokes Trump at this week's debate.

  • Russia is crumbling from within

    On Sunday evening, the North Caucasus region of Dagestan was rocked by a series of brutal terrorist attacks. Gunmen opened fire in a synagogue in Derbent, graphically slit the throat of Russian Orthodox priest Father Nikolay, and attacked Jewish and Christian houses of worship in Dagestan’s largest city Makhachkala. These brutal crimes claimed the lives of at least 15 people, including police officers.

  • US, Russia defense chiefs speak as tensions rise over Crimea attack

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. and Russian defense chiefs spoke by telephone on Tuesday in rare communication between the two powers and with tensions rising after Moscow blamed Washington for a deadly Ukraine attack over the weekend on the Russian-annexed Crimea. The two sides gave widely divergent accounts of the conversation - the first one between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russia's new Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, who replaced Sergei Shoigu in May.

  • A Russian soldier's killing of a wounded comrade highlights the 'brutal culture' rampant inside Russia's military, war analysts say

    Experts called out the callous behavior within the Russian armed forces after drone footage showed a soldier shooting a wounded comrade.

  • Trump-backed candidate loses South Carolina runoff, handing win to McMaster

    Republican nurse practitioner Sheri Biggs has won the GOP primary runoff for South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District, Decision Desk HQ projects, in an unusual race that pitted Donald Trump against one of his top allies. Biggs beat Trump-endorsed Mark Burns in the one-on-one runoff after neither secured a majority of the vote in the initial, more…

  • Iran's supreme leader warns sole reformist in presidential race, while calling for 'maximum' turnout

    Iran's supreme leader issued a thinly veiled warning Tuesday to the sole reformist candidate in the country's upcoming presidential election, saying anyone who believes “all ways to progress” come from the United States shouldn't be supported. While often speaking in parables like many Iranian politicians, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to directly undercut the candidacy of 69-year-old heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian, who has aligned himself with officials from the administration of former President Hassan Rouhani. Rouhani helped reach Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, an accord Pezeshkian has fully embraced in contrast with his five hard-line opponents, who want an agreement fully on Iran's terms.

  • Who will you vote for in the general election? Tell us what you think

    With just over a week to go until the general election, have you made your mind up yet?

  • Judge Aileen Cannon Dresses Down Trump Prosecutor: ‘I Don’t Appreciate Your Tone’

    There was tension in U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s courtroom on Monday afternoon as the controversial jurist—already facing criticism that she is in the tank for Donald Trump, who appointed her to the bench during his single term in the White House—snapped at one of the government attorneys prosecuting Trump for unlawfully hoarding classified documents after leaving office.The exchange occurred during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida, with prosecutors arguing for

  • Trump has spent months painting Biden as incompetent. Now he's changing his tone before the debate

    After months of casting President Joe Biden as a shell of a man incapable of putting two sentences together, Donald Trump has changed his tune days before their first debate. The changed rhetoric marks a dramatic shift from how Trump typically describes the man he will face in a rematch this November. At his rallies and in speeches, Trump typically casts the Democratic incumbent as a “low-IQ individual” who is “the worst, most incompetent, and most corrupt president” in the nation’s history, and often imitates Biden appearing lost on stage.

  • ‘Their manifesto is like a wishlist’: How Reform seduced Gen Z

    Nathan Hobbs has been arguing with his sister about politics lately. She is 22, has a progressive outlook and, like most young voters, is likely to vote either Labour or Liberal Democrat at the General Election. Nathan, a 19-year-old student, disagrees with her and doesn’t fit the mould of much of his peer group either. He is planning to vote Reform UK on July 4. “There’s a real split [between us],” he says of the siblings’ divergence in political opinion. “She dislikes Nigel Farage.”

  • Biden administration moves toward allowing American military contractors to deploy to Ukraine

    The Biden administration is moving towards lifting a de facto ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine, four US officials familiar with the matter told CNN, to help the country’s military maintain and repair US-provided weapons systems.

  • Nancy Pelosi Delivers Blistering 5-Word Trump Prediction

    The former House speaker slammed the former president’s rhetoric after she was asked about her husband’s recovery from a 2022 hammer attack.

  • GOP Lawmaker Gets Mountain Of Mockery After Wild New Biden Conspiracy Theory

    Rep. Eric Burlison's attack on the president fell flat on social media.

  • Britain’s paltry savings are in Labour’s crosshairs

    There’s little more than a week to go before the almost inevitable handover of power from the Conservatives to Labour, and still it’s hard to make out precisely what to expect from the new government.