Former President Donald Trump visited Capitol Hill Thursday, June 13, to meet with House and Senate Republicans in two separate meetings. Lawmakers inside the room told Straight Arrow News that Trump discussed his 2024 campaign strategy and policy.
“We have great unity, we have great common sense, a lot of very smart people in this room and a lot of people that love our country,” Trump said after his meeting with senators.
Lawmakers were quick to talk about the former president’s new idea to end taxes on tips.
“Just remove all taxes on tips is basically what he said,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said. “You don’t need a bunch of Harvard lawyers and accountants in there to tell me to do that.”
The former president also spoke about foreign policy. According to one representative, Trump said he wants to end support for foreign wars, specifically Ukraine, and increase financial support for members of the U.S. military.
“Trump reflected on the fact that it is a travesty in our country that you’ve got troops who are on food stamps, who are not even getting minimum wage when you look at the hours that they’re putting in, and he lamented the fact that we’re sending $60 billion to Ukraine and we’re not paying our troops more,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said. “So President Trump was explicitly a critic of the Ukraine aid and a supporter of the increases in pay for American troops.”
On border security, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said Republicans would make another attempt to get HR 2 signed into law. That bill is the Republicans’ border security bill which they passed in the House but could not move any further. The bill would limit the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to grant immigrant parole and restart border wall construction. However, it also included other measures that critics called harsh.
“We’ve already passed HR 2, our border security plan,” Greene said. “President Trump supports it. I think that would be something that he would get passed literally in his first few days of office.”
Amidst the tight security, there were two small groups of Trump supporters and very loud protesters. Many of the protesters were Palestinian and shouted that the lawmakers were racist Zionists as they left the meeting.
This was Trump’s first time back to the Capitol since the riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Some Democrats criticized his appearance.
“Today, the instigator of an insurrection is returning to the scene of the crime,” Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told Politico. “January 6th was a crime against the Capitol, that saw Nazi and Confederate flags flying under the dome that Lincoln built. It was a crime against the Constitution and its peaceful transfer of power, in a desperate attempt to cling to power.”
Multiple reporters from foreign outlets asked lawmakers if they too think Trump was returning to the scene of a crime.
“No, it’s not a crime scene man,” Burchett said. “If you think some guy with horns is going to take over our country, ma’am, you need to go back to whatever news source you’re from.”
Republicans also said Trump will be holding at least 100 tele-town halls for members this election season as the GOP attempts to keep its House majority and win a majority in the Senate.
