WASHINGTON – Three and a half years ago, President Donald Trump led violent riots in the Capitol to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory and stay in power. The special committee of the House of Representatives concluded after much research.
On Thursday, Trump will make his first visit to Capitol Hill since the Jan. 6 attack as Republicans give a hero’s welcome to their presumptive 2024 nominee.
Less than five months before his rematch with Biden, Trump will meet with House Republicans in the morning and GOP senators in the afternoon behind closed doors a few blocks from the Capitol as the party discusses campaign messaging and legislative strategy in 2025.
Trump and Biden are locked in a competitive race and control of Congress is up for grabs this fall, but many in the GOP are optimistic about sweeping the 2024 election and moving swiftly on Trump’s agenda.
“This will be a statement of unity,” Sen. Roger Wicker, a former GOP campaign chairman, told NBC News.
Even some critics in the party plan to attend: Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who voted to impeach Trump in the impeachment trial after the Jan. 6 attack, said he thought he would attend but was still firming up his schedule.
“The polls say he’s going to be our next president, so you’ve got to work with this guy,” Cassidy said, unsure of what to expect. “Can you guess what Trump is going to do next minute? No, of course not.”
It will also be the first time since the Capitol riot that Trump will be in the same room as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; the two have not spoken since December 2020. McConnell harshly criticized Trump He bears practical and moral responsibility for the provocation of the events that took place on January 6. He has since endorsed Trump for president and announced he will step down as Senate GOP leader later this year.
“I said right after the attack on the Capitol three years ago that I would support our candidate no matter who he is, including him. I said earlier this year that I support him. He won the nomination by voters across the country,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday, without using Trump’s name. “And of course I’ll be at the meeting tomorrow.”
Trump returns immediately after leaving for Washington 34 were convicted of serious crimes falsifying business records related to hush money payments to an adult movie star, and as he awaits sentencing. Between meetings with House and Senate Republicans, he will sit down with CEOs at the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group representing more than 200 major companies, as Washington and key industries prepare for the reality that Trump could be president again. .
Several of Trump’s top contenders will also have a chance to get his attention on Thursday. They include GOP Sens. JD Vance of Ohio, Marco Rubio of Florida and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is Trump’s best ally played a key role In an effort to stop the GOP from confirming a Biden victory in 2020, he predicted that Trump would win a second term and become the “most effective president of modern times” while undoing the “disaster” created by the Biden administration.
“When he comes in, we have to have a very aggressive first 100-day agenda; the first year is going to be important. I think we can’t lose a moment because there’s so much to do,” Johnson told reporters. Wednesday. “You don’t put the cart before the horse, but you have to be willing to lead.”
Other Trump critics in the party are expected to skip the Senate hearing, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah. All three voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 impeachment.
Romney, who retired from the Senate this year, said he had a flight during Trump’s meeting.
“I’m not giving him advice on what to say, and I’m sure he’s not going to listen to my advice anyway,” Romney told reporters.
Sen. Thom Tillis, RN.C., said he wasn’t reading too much into McConnell’s involvement in the meeting with Trump.
“I don’t think it’s anything other than Mitch showing respect for our presidential candidate,” Tillis said. “And showing up for the rest of us at the conference.”
During Trump’s visit, the Capitol complex, which his supporters overthrew in 2021, is not expected to set foot on itself. He will meet with House Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club in the morning. Later in the day, he will meet with GOP senators at the National Republican Senatorial Committee headquarters after speaking at the Business Roundtable.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who did not endorse Trump for president, declined to say whether he would attend.
“Trump doesn’t ask questions,” Young said, adding that it’s a personal rule “until I decide not to make it a rule.”