Trump, Senate Republicans have lunch together at the White House -- live stream

President Trump is having lunch with Senate Republicans at the White House. 

The president said in remarks before their lunch in the Roosevelt Room that they're going to discuss the conference committee negotiations over the GOP tax overhaul, which he called the "mixer."

"It's a fantastic bill for the middle class," Mr. Trump said, adding that it will also spur job growth and benefit companies wanting to bring back money from overseas. "I view it as a tremendous bill for jobs and the middle class." 

Mr. Trump said that other issues on the agenda are trade and NAFTA negotiations. He said that there have been "tremendous losses" with Mexico and Canada. He said, for example, that the U.S. lost about $71 billion in trade deficit with Mexico last year and $17 billion with Canada. 

The president expressed confidence that congressional Republicans would reach a bicameral agreement on taxes soon.

"I think something is going to be coming out of conference pretty quickly," he said. "There's a great spirit in the Republican Party like they've never seen before." 

On the question of Roy Moore's Senate candidacy, Mr. Trump added that Republicans don't want a "liberal Democrat" elected in the special election in Alabama next week. The president on Monday endorsed GOP candidate Moore, who faces sexual assault and sexual misconduct allegations involving underage women when he was in his 30s. 

f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.