Both President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell recognize that their relationship is critical to the Republican agenda. | Evan Vucci/AP Trump, McConnell meet after monthlong standoff

President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell met privately on Tuesday in a bid to repair their badly frayed relationship, according to sources familiar with the meeting.

Trump and McConnell huddled privately for roughly 20 minutes ahead of a larger gathering of Republican leaders and officials working on tax reform.


The meeting was an apparent attempt to clear the air after a contentious August recess between the two, mostly fueled by the Senate's failure to repeal Obamacare.

McConnell said the president suffered from "excessive expectations," prompting Trump to attack McConnell over the Obamacare repeal vote in July and to demand the GOP leader change the Senate's filibuster rules. Trump even suggested that McConnell may need to be replaced as the Senate Republican leader if Congress is not able to complete work on a tax-reform package.

McConnell's office declined to comment on his session with Trump.

Both men recognize that their relationship is critical to the Republican agenda. Elaine Chao, McConnell's wife, is also secretary of the Department of Transportation, which makes the very public spat between Turmp and McConnell even more difficult.

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Trump was furious over the Senate's failure to pass an Obamacare replacement bill, criticizing McConnell and other Senate Republicans over the issue. An Aug. 9 phone call between Trump and McConnell turned into an angry shouting match, and the two men hadn't spoken for weeks before Tuesday's tête-à-tête.

McConnell, for his part, was upset over Trump's handling of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, feeling the president didn't go far enough in denouncing the event.