Less than two months on the job, President Donald Trump is showing that when it comes to wooing members of Congress, he’s no Barack Obama.
Where Obama was usually reserved and met sparingly with lawmakers, Trump has launched a full-out charm offensive, much of it aimed at bolstering the beleaguered Republican Obamacare plan.
Trump “was talking about how we all got to work together,” said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who was part of a group of House Republican vote-counters who met Trump Tuesday in the White House. “He even said at one point, ‘Maybe we should meet once a week. Maybe we should meet every four days!’ ”
His press to get an Obamacare repeal and replacement passed will provide a test of whether Trump’s enthusiastic glad-handing can help him overcome hard-edged ideological divisions within his own party.
It’s unclear whether his courting of lawmakers will sway any votes, and he may still have to switch gears and starting being tougher on GOP holdouts. But his personal salesmanship may be the only way that Republicans can pass their Obamacare bill, given the strong negative reaction from conservatives and the strong opposition from groups representing doctors, hospitals and the elderly.
Trump’s early outreach on a wide range of issues has included Republican leaders, conservatives who opposed him in the election and leading Democrats. On Wednesday evening, he dined with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz – and his wife – a far cry from when the pair traded bitter personal attacks as rivals during the presidential primary.
The president also called Sen. Rand Paul to discuss the Kentucky Republican’s opposition to the Obamacare plan.
“I think we’re wooing each other,” said Paul, a former Trump presidential primary foe, adding that the president sounded open to his ideas.
The Republican vote-counters who met with Trump on Tuesday came away impressed by his openness and spontaneity.
As they introduced themselves one-by-one around a long table at the White House, Trump suddenly chimed in.
“Youngest woman ever elected to Congress!” the president blurted out just before the 32-year-old Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York managed to give out her name, according to Cole.
“He’s great like that. He’s interacting with members. He’s funny,” said Cole, who had himself been greeted by Trump in a personal fashion earlier.
“I walked in, and he said, ‘You, you’re great on television. Isn’t this guy great on television? He’s got a face made for television!’ ” he recounted. And throughout the meeting, aimed at discussing how the president could help congressional Republicans get their health bill to his desk, Cole said of Trump, “He was on top of it. He was energetic.”
Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania recalled another recent meeting of House Republicans at the White House.
“We’re all sitting around,” he said, and Trump suddenly asks, “You’ve never been in the Oval Office?”
“And we say, no. And he says, ‘C’mon, I’ll take you around,’ ” said Marino.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Wednesday that the president is purposefully engaging lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to seek solutions and areas of compromise on a variety of issues, including a replacement for Obamacare.
“This is a president who is going to engage with everybody who can help join in proposing ideas and thoughts and opinions on how to move the country forward,” Spicer said.
On Thursday, Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania and other lawmakers were headed to the White House for a bowling outing – during which Trump is expected to make an appearance, said Kelly’s spokesman Tom Qualtere.
Kelly was one of the earliest House Trump supporters. But Qualtere said he understands this is the beginning of what could be monthly, or even weekly, bowling get-togethers for lawmakers at the executive residence.
By contrast, Obama had a reputation for keeping lawmakers – both Republicans and fellow Democrats – at a distance, rather than cultivating friendships or personal relationships on either side of the aisle. Obama’s aides downplayed that criticism as unfair, and the one-time senator from Illinois did invite lawmakers over for official meetings or rare social gatherings.
Obama famously joked in 2013 that “some folks still don’t think I spend enough time with Congress” and chide him for not getting drinks with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “Really?” Obama laughed. “Why don’t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?” But the following year, when Republicans retook control of the Senate, Obama said he’d enjoy having a bourbon with McConnell sometime after all.
Obama did put on his own charm offensive to round up votes for his $800 billion economic stimulus measure, holding private meetings with swing-vote Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. He also hosted a bipartisan cocktail reception at the White House and later hosted 15 lawmakers from both chambers at a Super Bowl party, where he passed around freshly baked cookies.