Has Donald Trump lost ground within the Republicans after his trial in May? Unlikely. On Thursday, the former president was hailed in Washington.
He will crush the opposition in the election, says Tom Emmer, Republican in the House of Representatives.
The day before his 77th birthday, the USA's former president Donald Trump returned to Washington DC.
He was met with cake, birthday singing, and praise from his party at this, his first meeting with Republicans in Congress since the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021.
It was a fantastic meeting. We are fantastically united in the Republican Party, said the former president after two hours behind closed doors with the congressmen.
Open Arms
In the closed breakfast meeting just across the street from the Capitol, he was received with open arms, received gifts, and said, according to participants, that he would attract a larger audience than Taylor Swift.
He even got praise and was praised by the party's group leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, who had previously been critical of Trump.
It was a really positive meeting. He and I got the chance to talk a little and shook hands, said McConnell afterwards.
Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer added:
Everyone who thought this president would disappear after that hypocrisy of a trial has got it wrong, it just gave him more energy, he said about the verdict against Trump at the end of May, where the former president was convicted of accounting fraud and violations of campaign finance laws in New York.
"Our Next President"
Even Republicans who had publicly aired sharp criticism of Trump participated. Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, who in the spring questioned the former president's candidacy, now said that "he will be our next president, so we must work together".
Faced with the question of whether he was worried about the direction the party was taking with Trump, he replied:
Let's be content with the problems we face today. One can be filled with worry about tomorrow's problems, but will it change anything? No, not at all.
