White House Trump tries softer touch to woo Heitkamp on tax reform The president welcomed the North Dakota Democratic senator to join him on Air Force One, a week after exhorting voters to punish Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill if she votes no.

President Donald Trump has already tried negotiation-by-threat in his push for tax reform – but on Wednesday he took a softer touch to woo North Dakota Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to his side.

Trump invited Heitkamp to join him on Air Force One before a joint appearance in her home base of Mandan to tout his signature legislative goal.


The president is leaning on Democratic senators from states he won in 2016 to support his effort for tax reform in hopes of avoiding the narrow defeat suffered by his health care reform proposal in August.

He used a trip last week to Missouri to take a direct shot at its politically vulnerable Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, telling his audience at a factory that “you have to vote her out of office” if she doesn’t support tax reform.

He did make remarks Wednesday targeting Democrats broadly. "If Democrats don't want to bring back your jobs, cut your taxes, raise your pay and help America win, voters should deliver a clear message," Trump said. "Do your job to deliver for America or find a new job. Do something else. Just do something else."

But he welcomed Heitkamp warmly, declaring her a “good woman.”

“Everyone’s saying what is she doing up here?” Trump said, gesturing to Heitkamp as she walked on stage. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll have your support. I hope we have your support.”

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Later, he added: “You listening, Heidi? She’s listening. She heard that. We’re not going to put her on the spot. I’m not doing it.”

Trump carried North Dakota by 36 points in November. But while Heitkamp has voiced a willingness to support tax reform in the past, it’s unclear just how much incentive there will be to cross party lines and hand a win to a president whose approval ratings are mired below 40 percent.

Congressional Republicans plan to pass a tax bill using the filibuster-proof maneuver known as budget reconciliation, signaling to senior Democrats that the GOP will likely pursue cuts for corporate and wealthy taxpayers that are deeply unpopular with their liberal base. Given that initially partisan tone of the tax debate, Democrats are preparing for few if any defections on a bill that may not come to a vote until next year.

Heitkamp, however, is one of the three Democratic senators who declined to sign onto a letter last month committing most of the caucus to opposing any tax bill that cuts bills for wealthy earners. That makes her a ripe target for Trump, who briefly considered appointing the former state tax commissioner to his Cabinet earlier this year.

Heitkamp’s looming reelection battle is another potent motivator as Trump courts her vote. One of her potential challengers next year, Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), also joined Trump on Air Force One for the Wednesday flight, as did North Dakota Republican Sen. John Hoeven.

The business community in North Dakota shares some of Trump’s optimism that Heitkamp can be wooed on taxes.

“The one thing I know about Sen. Heitkamp is on that on many business issues she is fairly business friendly,” said Andy Peterson, president and CEO of the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, who will be attending Wednesday’s event. “On things like energy and taxes and things like that, she generally gets it and understands what it takes to make a business operate. ... She has been very friendly with our office on a lot of issues.”

“She’s not afraid to vote her conscience on something and then stand up and be accountable for why she voted that way,” he added.

But Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, said he is “not concerned about” the caucus sticking together to support the stipulations that most of them committed to last month.

Wyden predicted “exceptional unity” around those conditions, including no tax cuts for the top 1 percent of earners and no bill that adds to the deficit, adding that he has talked taxes with Heitkamp “a number of times in recent weeks – she is arguably one of most knowledgeable people about taxes I’ve met in public life.”

The handful of Democratic senators who didn’t sign onto the taxes letter, including Heitkamp, “said they agreed with the overwhelming part of this,” Wyden added.

A coalition of liberal groups known as Not One Penny, after their opposition to tax breaks for the wealthy, on Wednesday rolled out a five-figure ad buy targeting Heitkamp and Hoeven on the issue.

Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who appeared with Vice President Mike Pence in his home state last week, joined Heitkamp in declining to sign the Senate Democratic statement on taxes.

Other red-state Democratic senators facing voters in 2018 appear less inclined to entertain a potential tax-cut plan that adds to the deficit as relief from Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters takes a separate toll on the Treasury.

“I’ve got my own guidelines around tax reform: Simplify it, make sure it doesn’t add to the debt. Give a break to working families and small businesses,” Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said in an interview.

“But the truth is that we’re dealing with a situation right now, with Houston and fires in Montana -- we’ve got 40 active fires now – $3 million a day, maybe more than that’s going out the window. So we’ve just got to make sure we’re fiscally responsible here moving forward.”