As he seeks to make peace with Republicans in Congress, Washington outsider Donald Trump is turning to lawmakers for help beefing up his policy portfolio, according to multiple Trump supporters on Capitol Hill.

The move signals a major pivot in the campaign that blossomed because of its anti-establishment approach. But with the nomination essentially locked up, the New York billionaire’s campaign is switching gears to focus on the general election, seeking to flesh out a policy agenda that until now has consisted mostly of 30,000-foot-level talking points, multiple Trump Hill surrogates tell POLITICO.


The Trump campaign in recent days has reached out to the chairmen of powerful committees including the Ways and Means and Budget panels, according to the Hill surrogates who are acting on Trump’s behalf. They’re asking other lawmakers for policy pitches, white papers and even copies of legislation or op-eds to help determine what to tuck into their general election policy agenda.

And the information-sharing is starting to run both ways. Trump’s D.C. office is now sending around daily messaging and talking points to Hill supporters as they try to woo new Hill allies to carry their message.

“The pivot now to the general election included a significant upsizing of the Trump D.C. operation,” said Trump backer Rep. Chris Collins of New York. “They’re planning policy presentations and policy papers, and his folks are looking for as much input as they can get. They’re not coming into this with preconceived details and notions. … That’s healthy.”

The back and forth suggests that Trump is coming to realize he has to play inside baseball here in Washington if he wants to make it to the White House. His Hill supporters acknowledged Trump is no career politician, but now, they say, it’s time to play catch-up — especially if he wants to beat career politician Hillary Clinton.

“There’s been a realization by the campaign that they need to start sewing up some of the loose ends,” said a Trump surrogate who wished to remain anonymous. “I think he needs to drill down on policy, and members are one way to do that.”

The transition comes as Trump is set to meet with GOP congressional leadership Thursday, including Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who said last week he is not ready to back Trump. One of Ryan’s biggest peeves is Trump’s seeming lack of conservative policy know-how — and some House members are hoping Trump will tap some of the speaker’s ideas.

“It’d be a pretty nice unifying tool for the party,” said Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who endorsed Trump in April. “I think tomorrow afternoon, if all goes well with their meeting, it could put a lot of meat on the [Trump] policy skeleton.”

The ongoing communications with various offices, however, suggest the campaign’s behind-the-scene efforts are far from limited to leadership.

Cramer, for example, said he’s working on an “all of the above” energy paper for Trump. He hopes to deliver it to the campaign before Trump’s May 26 speech to the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck.

“I have this additional desire to get it in a timely fashion so it’d inform what he’ll be talking about in Bismarck,” Cramer said, adding that campaign manager Corey Lewandowski asked him personally to submit some ideas on the energy issues. “He said, ‘You’re it. Work with my man [campaign staffer] Ed Brookover.’”

Trump’s main policy message during the primary was whittled down into three prongs, insiders say: keep America safe, bring back jobs and secure the U.S. borders. Last month, he took the first step toward filling out those points with an elaborate foreign policy speech that got mixed reviews in Washington.

Now Trump is planning policy speeches on veterans, trade, immigration and energy. Lawmakers are one of his first stops: Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, for example, said he helped facilitate a 10-page white paper on health care policy from Rep. Michael Burgess, an obstetrician and gynecologist who initially had endorsed fellow Texan Ted Cruz.

Burgess spokeswoman Lesley Fulop declined comment on the congressman’s submission for Trump but said her boss “is more than willing to assist the campaign of the presumed Republican presidential nominee in any way they see fit.”

Trump’s earliest Hill supporters seem to be getting the first bite at the apple. Trump endorser Rep. Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, for instance, is putting together op-eds and policy papers on illegal immigration for Trump. As mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, in the early 2000s, Barletta was known for his vocal opposition to undocumented workers.

Trump backer Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania, meanwhile, says he’s passing on his insights on NATO policy. And Rep. Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, whose staff is doing lots of behind-the-scenes outreach, said he’s being tapped on health care matters.

“It’s a natural transition for Donald Trump to look to people in Washington to build some support and get some input on issues,” Barletta said in an interview. “There’s been a lot of outreach to supporters. Obviously, he’s going to need some people here that know their way around and can help him with some of his policies.”

The campaign is also making its outreach to committees and committee chairmen a priority, sources say. They’ve reached out to Ways and Means staff for help with tax issues and Budget Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) for tips on budget items. They’ve also expressed interest in working closely with House Veterans Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller, a retiring Florida congressman, on the issues under his jurisdiction.

The campaign this week tried to put together a meeting with Trump and Hill chairmen, according to a Trump source. The idea, however, came up too late to fit into lawmakers’ schedules. Still, Trump eventually plans to make the rounds, sources say.

The more detailed policy requests started coming in several weeks ago, when senior campaign adviser Paul Manafort came to Capitol Hill in mid-April to meet with members. Trump himself, Trump sources say, asked for policy suggestions when he talked to lawmakers several weeks ago.

And now the well-connected Scott Mason, Trump’s new House liaison, is taking over as the requests for policy help have picked up in earnest. The former vice president for government affairs at Lowe’s has been reaching out to Capitol Hill, popping into meetings and instructing surrogates what they should be doing.

Republicans aren’t necessarily writing new legislative text for Trump. Many of the ideas they’re sending to the campaign are pitches that have been collecting dust on policy shelves for months and years during the Obama era. Now, many conservative House members see this as a chance to give their proposals new life.

Hunter said the advice from lawmakers is more valuable than those coming out of a standard think tank because members know the political realities of their policies, and what it’s like to run for office on an actual legislative agenda.

“Think tanks exist in a fake world; they don’t have to run for reelection,” Hunter said. “Members of Congress not only have to get reelected every two years, but they get in the weeds on many policy issues like any think tank does. … I think that’s more valuable than anyone else’s input.”

An source close to Trump also noted that enlisting help with his policy platform has the added benefit of offering an olive branch to an institution Trump has scorned for months: “It’s also a way to start building some allied organizations on the Hill. Any president in their right mind better have a strong group of folks to lean on in Congress.”

