The lunch meeting was the latest event in a Trump outreach to Republican lawmakers that began after the prospect of impeachment surfaced in September.
WASHINGTON – As House Democrats conducted another impeachment hearing, President Donald Trump and top aides held meetings Thursday with Republican senators who might well have to serve as jurors for an impeachment trial of the president.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who has had a tense relationship with the president and pointedly declined to defend him during the impeachment inquiry, said he and Trump were"friendly and cordial." In the run-up to Thursday's lunch, Trump appeared to appeal to the Republican-run Senate in a tweet in which he denounced House Democrats who are pursuing impeachment as"scum."
Officials said Trump has probably spoken, either individually or in groups, with all 53 Republican senators – all jurors in a potential impeachment. Two officials discussed the outreach on condition of anonymity, citing the private nature of the meetings. Romney said the president brought up impeachment at the start of the White House meeting, but not to strategize or seek support.
Senators said they and Trump also discussed the proposed short-term spending bill to punt a looming government shutdown to the end of the year; Collins said she believes Trump would sign that plan.
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