Steve Bannon was furious.

Last weekend, the Washington Examiner published a story claiming that President Donald Trump had vowed to back primary challengers to run against Republicans who oppose the GOP's health care plan. The article named Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows as a "possible target." Bannon believed the story was categorically untrue, according to sources, and he met with Meadows over the weekend as speculation mounted about who was behind it.


Multiple House Republican whips denied that Trump made the threat during the meeting with GOP leaders cited in the story. But a few days later, Trump leaned on Paul Ryan to compromise with the House's far-right flank, which has dubbed the speaker's health care bill "Obamacare-Lite."

The Freedom Caucus may not need to fear Trump-backed primary challengers because of this episode. But the group, nonetheless, is taking a big risk in threatening to blow up Ryan’s health care proposal: Its passage is a top priority for Trump and could have ramifications for the rest of the president's agenda. Trump told GOP vote counters last week that he’d do everything in his power to get it through Congress.

The Freedom Caucus, however, has clearly found a sympathetic ear in Trump’s right-hand man Bannon, who wants conservatives to be included in the legislative process instead of twisting their arms to vote yes. The fledgling alliance has given the group newfound hope that they can win the White House over to their side — or, at least, that Trump won’t blame them if Obamacare repeal implodes.

“The last thing I want is for the president to be mad at me,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows told POLITICO in a brief interview on Thursday. “He asked me to negotiate in good faith, so I have been working around the clock to negotiate in good faith, reaching out to people that I would not normally reach out to. He understands that no one wants a deal more than me.”

Allies of Ryan say the speaker can’t possibly agree to everything that conservatives are requesting, and they don't believe Meadows and the Freedom Caucus have engaged in good faith. They also argue that Ryan, at the White House's behest, is trying to incorporate their wishes while still getting the bill passed within a week.

But for months, conservatives have complained that GOP leaders aren't listening to them. That's why Meadows (R-N.C.), who declined to divulge details of his talks with the White House, and other conservatives have circumvented leadership and taken their case to the White House. Trump has essentially become the middleman between warring House GOP factions.

The Freedom Caucus' unwillingness to go along with GOP leaders could backfire if Trump loses his patience. The president carried most of its members' districts by wide margins. If he turns against them — blaming them for the bill’s failure — the hard-liners could find themselves in a precarious spot in the 2018 midterms.

“Everybody’s concerned about getting into a Twitter war with the president,” said Freedom Caucus member Raúl Labrador of Idaho. He added, however, that conservatives can’t simply get on board with something they reject.

And it's not only the House factions complicating the calculus.

Conservative lawmakers have proven adept at exploiting similar divisions in the White House to build momentum for their cause. Administration sources say they stovepipe their concerns to Bannon because of his relationships with the far right, and they warily eye others aligned with chief of staff Reince Priebus, who is closer to Ryan.

They've found sympathizers in the West Wing for complaints that leadership has excluded them from the legislative process. One senior administration official told POLITICO that “House leadership cut them out of the process totally.”

“We opened up a direct channel" with Meadows, fellow Freedom Caucus leader Jim Jordan and Sen. Ted Cruz, the source continued, "to get the real issues on the table.”

If Trump is aware of the infighting, he's not acknowledging it.

"Great progress on healthcare," he tweeted Thursday. "Improvements being made — Republicans coming together!"

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The alliance with the White House has emboldened the Freedom Caucus. The group is now aiming to strike its own “deal” with moderates — independent of the efforts of GOP leaders. In fact, with the exception of one conversation with Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Meadows told reporters Wednesday evening that he had not spoken to GOP leaders in two weeks. He said he talks to the White House almost daily.

The end-run around House leaders has had mixed success. The White House isn't listening to the Freedom Caucus' plea to repeal Obamacare now and replace it later, or their request to axe health care tax credits essential to the Ryan plan. But Trump pressed Ryan Tuesday night to amend his bill to placate conservatives, something the far right has been imploring the White House to do for weeks.

Meadows had given the White House a list of a half-dozen "improvements" that the group wants to be made to the bill.

Trump is also kibitzing with rank-and-file Freedom Caucus members. Rep. Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, an early Trump supporter, flew from Nashville with the president on Air Force One late Wednesday and said the two talked about health care “pretty extensively.”

With a cadre of top aides in the cabin, along with Rep. Marsha Blackburn, another Tennessee Republican, DesJarlais said Trump listened closely as he pitched proposals that would push the health care bill to the right.

He also said Trump is approaching the process carefully and is weighing various ideas to help shepherd it through a Republican conference with sharp divisions.

“He realizes that it’s really important to get this done, but he knows that if his name’s going to be on it, it must be a good product,” said DesJarlais, who was a doctor before coming to Congress. “I don’t think that he’s rigid.”

On Thursday, Meadows, during a panel discussion with fellow conservatives, slammed the Examiner report as inaccurate and hinted that the White House has told him it was not true.

“It didn’t happen, and I know that from good authority, asking people that not only were in the room, but I know the president didn’t say that,” he said.

The Examiner reporter who wrote the story stood by the report.

Meadows suggested someone intentionally was trying to threaten him into voting for the bill and said it wasn’t working.

“This is the typical kind of thing that happens whenever pressure comes to bear trying to get people to vote against their constituency," he said. "Obviously, we want to say ‘yes.’ Everybody up here wants to say 'yes.' But the kinds of things that are happening, they don’t bring us closer to yes. If anything, they have an opposite reaction.”