Gov. John Kasich is known as a longtime supporter of trade deals, including TPP. | AP Photo Kasich, Bloomberg and others to talk TPP with Obama

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a handful of business and government leaders are headed to the Oval Office on Friday to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The meeting will give President Barack Obama an opportunity to hear from a bipartisan group on how the troubled 12-nation trade pact, if passed, would benefit the country and how they might work together to implement the deal.


During the meeting, Obama will also talk about his recent trip to Asia — "which only underscored how important the TPP is to our leadership role in the region" — as well as how the United States' standing in the Asia-Pacific region will be damaged if the deal is not passed, a White House official said.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are also expected to be in attendance at the meeting, as well as IBM President and CEO Ginni Rometty and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis.

Kasich and Bloomberg are known as longtime supporters of trade deals, including TPP. They, along with the other expected White House guests, "are representative of the broad coalition that has come together to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” the White House said.

The meeting comes on the heels of the Obama administration's filing of a trade enforcement case against China earlier this week and just days before U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman heads to Dallas, Texas, where he is expected to discuss the sweeping trade agreement and meet with with former president George W. Bush.

The series of events is part of the administration's all-out push to win support for the agreement, particularly from key political leaders on the Republican side who could help sway votes in Congress. The administration still hopes to pass the deal through Congress before Obama leaves office in January, but he's facing increasing pressure from top congressional leaders in both parties who have turned against it.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said during the summer recess that the pact would not come up for a vote this year, while House Speaker Paul Ryan said last week that if it did come before Congress, "it would go down."

Democrats, meanwhile, have been largely pulled away from supporting the deal amid pressure from labor unions and environmental groups to come out against it.

Both major-party presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have expressed opposition to the deal.

Kasich, who dropped out of the Republican presidential primary in May, has yet to endorse Trump.