Donald Trump is working to remove roadblocks to his massive legislative agenda this weekend at his Florida resort, starting with a lavish dinner Friday night with some of Speaker Mike Johnson’s biggest opponents.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus found a lively and positive atmosphere at Mar-a-Lago, according to three Republicans familiar with the meeting. Billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk also appeared and posed for photos with several lawmakers, they said.
“Unity was a big part of the meeting,” one of the Republicans said. It also served as “an open forum for members’ ideas on austerity and reconciliation,” the person added, referring to Trump and Johnson’s upcoming effort to put together “one big, beautiful bill” on border security, energy production and tax cuts. as well as massive spending offsets to keep the deficit from exploding.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) was notably in attendance. Roy, a key Republican rebel, recently clashed with Trump, who called for a more loyal Republican to challenge him in his next primary.
According to photos of the dinner posted on social media, attendees included Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.), Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) – who threatened to block Johnson from the speakership last week before changing his vote under pressure from Trump.
Unity among the divided Republican Conference of the House of Representatives will be a key factor for Trump and Johnson, with any Republican member potentially able to derail the entire legislative package.
“It was much more about a lot of members of the House Freedom Caucus not getting the opportunity to engage with President Trump — they got the opportunity last night,” said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), a member of the group and a close ally of Trump.
“I think this kind of team building and camaraderie is very important because we have a heavy burden on us,” he added in an interview Saturday at the Republican Party of Florida’s quarterly meeting in Orlando. “It was actually much more of a fun and enjoyable dinner than an in-depth policy session.”
In addition to a general discussion on spending, Donalds said the group also discussed defense issues and China. The rapidly approaching debt ceiling was also discussed, he added, although the topic “didn’t come up much.” As expected, several members of the Freedom Caucus also said at the dinner that they favor a two-track reconciliation strategy, citing the urgency to address border security, one of the Republicans said.
One of Trump’s proposals received a cold reception during the dinner: making Canada the 51st state.
“I said, ‘Mr. President, the Canadians, they’re going to elect two Democratic senators; we don’t want that. The status of the territory is not that bad,” Donalds told a group in Orlando.
Trump will meet later Saturday with several other key factions of the House of Representatives, including GOP lawmakers from New York, New Jersey and California who are pushing for an expansion of the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT.
House committee chairmen will dine with Trump on Saturday. He will host another cross-section of House Republicans on Sunday, including leaders of the business-oriented Main Street Caucus.
