Trump calls congressional Republicans "great people," despite recent battles
President Donald Trump had warm words for members of the GOP-led Congress in an interview airing Monday on "CBS This Morning," despite the ongoing battle over health care and fractious moments with the House Freedom Caucus.
"They're friends of mine, they're really special people, whether it's Freedom Caucus or Tuesday or Thursday or let's go have a drink, that group," Mr. Trump said in a wide-ranging White House interview recorded on his 100th day in office, broadcast during a special edition of CBS This Morning airing from the East Room of the White House. "They're great people, I know them all. And I can honestly say, a lot of them, I can honestly say I don't dislike any of them. I like almost all of them a lot."
"And you know, we have some votes that have never voted positively," he said. "But now we're the governing party. Before it didn't matter. They could vote no. It wouldn't matter because President Obama was going veto everything and they didn't have the Senate. Now we have the Senate, the House, and the White House. But these are great people. And I think you're going to see the Republican Party really come together."
The president will have to work with the congressional GOP on issues like tax reform and infrastructure legislation — the latter of which the president said will be filed "over the next two or three weeks, maybe sooner."
Mr. Trump made those comments after telling Fox News last week he was "disappointed" with the congressional GOP over the earlier collapse of health care reform legislation. One month ago, Mr. Trump threatened to oppose conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus who disagreed with and stifled his health care reform proposal, placing them in the same category as Democrats.
Referencing members of Congress on the other side of the aisle, the president criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's capabilities, saying his leadership would prevent Democrats from winning another election.
"They have bad leadership," Mr. Trump said. "Schumer's not a leader, he doesn't know how to lead. I know him for a long time, he has no leadership ability. And he's bringing them so far left they're never going to win another election, believe me."
Negotiating deals in Washington differs from negotiating in the business world in one way, he said — having a heart.
"Well, I think the big difference is, for what we're doing here, Washington, you really need heart, because you're talking about a lot of people," Mr. Trump said. "Whereas business, you don't need so much heart. You want to make a good deal."
