Story highlights
Trump stunned Republicans by cutting a deal with Democrats on Wednesday
"Both of them would interrupt each other at times"
There seems to be a bromance brewing between President Donald Trump and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
That’s according to Rep. Pete King, who attended a meeting at the White House on Thursday with New York and New Jersey officials to discuss a transportation project called the Gateway Program.
“He and Chuck – both of them would interrupt each other at times – and they’d go back and forth and Chuck would say something and smile and the President would look at him and smile,” King told CNN Thursday evening. “This went on for the whole – let’s say the meeting was around 40 minutes or so? It was almost like a love-in at times.”
According to King, Schumer and Trump were sitting one seat apart, with White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn between them.
Besides some introductory remarks, Cohn just sat back and “didn’t say another word,” King said.
“It was basically the President and Chuck. Even though there was somebody between them, they – face-to-face, they were pretty close a few times,” King said. “Chuck would lean over toward him, the President would lean over toward Chuck – I felt like I was back in the neighborhood.”
On Wednesday, Trump stunned Republicans and cut a deal with Democrats that attached hurricane relief money to a shorter-term bump in the debt ceiling, and also kept the government open.
The deal was proposed by Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
At the start of the meeting on Thursday, before addressing the Gateway Program, Trump noted “how important he thought it was, the deal he made yesterday with Chuck” and appeared “very proud” of the deal.
“He said even if people aren’t familiar with all the details of it, the fact that there’s bipartisanship – it’s a great spirit to have, something he wants,” King said.
Throughout the meeting, Schumer and Trump kept reaching across Cohn to shake hands, King said.
“He shook hands with Chuck coming in, talking, reached across and shook his hand again.”
At one point, King complimented Trump and Schumer for reaching Wednesday’s deal, and Trump thanked him and he shook hands with Schumer again, King said. At another moment in meeting, King said Trump turned to him and asked if the deal was getting a positive response in the House, and King said he responded, “Absolutely.”
When asked why he said this, considering many of his Republican colleagues are not happy with Trump, King said: “I wanted him to think it was going over great. I think it is, but I wanted to make sure.”
Others who attended the meeting included New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Rep. Dan Donovan and Trump’s chief of staff Gen. John Kelly, King said.