President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speak to reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House after their meeting on Monday. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo 45 After Dark: ‘Closer Than Ever Before’ edition

President Donald Trump was all smiles. So was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

In a determined show of camaraderie, the two Republicans broke bread at the White House today and then, led by Trump, they broke their silence in the Rose Garden with Trump declaring that he and McConnell were “closer than ever before.”


The two leaders had different goals in mind. As POLITICO’s Josh Dawsey reports , Trump was ready to — once again — make a case that his presidency is widely misunderstood, and that it is a raging success so far.

“It was the latest instance of Trump bypassing his own communications staff to speak directly to the press, and the public, after weeks of blistering criticism and as White House aides struggle with the increasing possibility that they may end the year without accomplishing any of their grand legislative goals.”

For McConnell, who is under fierce attack from Trump’s former senior strategist Steve Bannon, the afternoon press conference was an opportunity for Trump to show voters that he did, in fact, back his party’s leadership in Congress.

Though, as POLITICO’s Matthew Nussbaum and Cristiano Lima report , Trump did the talking:

“"Just so you understand, the Republican Party is very, very unified,” Trump declared during the Rose Garden news conference, with McConnell by his side.

Elsewhere in President Trump’s orbit:

DWELLING ON YELLEN: President Trump is expected to interview current Fed Chair Janet Yellen as he locks in on his final choice to fill the post. Yellen’s first term is up in February.

OPIOID FALLOUT: President Trump said he will declare a national opioid crisis next week and will look into his drug czar pick, Rep. Tom Marino, after an explosive 60 Minutes and Washington Post report that highlighted his role in guiding legislation that made it harder for the DEA to target drug distributors.

ROCKY TOP: Sen. Bob Corker says he “has to believe” that he and President Trump will speak again, even if he’s not sure when. The two publicly feuded last week.

NO MORON THIS: Over the weekend, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson refused to answer when he was asked directly whether he had callen President Trump a “moron.” (CNN)

NO JOKE: Newsweek reports that Joshua Boyle, a Canadian man rescued from a Taliban-linked group last week did not believe that Donald Trump had been elected president when his captors told him.

There you have it. You’re caught up on the Trump administration. That was Monday.

