Trump and Kevin McCarthy meet in Florida
Washington — Former President Trump met Thursday with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy at Mr. Trump's property in Palm Beach, Florida, where the pair discussed Republican efforts to take control of the House in 2022.
Save America, the former president's leadership PAC, said the meeting at Mar-a-Lago was "very good and cordial" and touched on "many topics, number one of which was taking back the House in 2022."
"President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping with the Republican Party become a majority in the House," the group said. "They worked very well together in the last election and picked up at least 15 seats when most predicted it would be the opposite. They will do so again, and the work has already started."
McCarthy said in a separate statement following the meeting Mr. Trump "committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022."
"A united conservative movement will strengthen the bonds of our citizens and uphold the freedoms our country was founded on," he said.
Mr. Trump retreated to Florida with former first lady Melania Trump the morning of January 20, skipping President Biden's inauguration and opting not to welcome Mr. Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden to the White House. Since then, he has seldom been heard from, since his Twitter account was banned and Facebook account locked indefinitely following the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.
The former president did open the "Office of the Former President" in Palm Beach County, he announced Monday, which will oversee the official activities of his post-White House life.
Mr. Trump's sit-down with McCarthy comes amid infighting in the House Republican conference that has spilled into public view. McCarthy told his fellow GOP lawmakers in a call Wednesday to "cut this crap out" if they want to successfully push back on the Biden administration and reclaim the majority in the House in 2022.
The intra-party sparring was sparked by Republicans' differing responses to the January 6 riots at the Capitol, which were perpetrated by a pro-Trump mob looking to halt Congress' counting of electoral votes. Several GOP lawmakers are organizing an effort to oust Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming from her post as conference chairwoman as punishment for voting to impeach Mr. Trump.
Cheney has also drawn a primary challenger following her vote, and Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida flew to Wyoming on Thursday for a rally at the state capital to drum up opposition to her.
Cheney was one of 10 Republicans who joined Democrats in voting to impeach Mr. Trump, a historic vote that made the former president the first to be impeached twice. The Senate's trial is set to begin the week of February 8.
