Trump Wooing Members Of Congress To Support Health Care Bill

President Trump is personally making a pitch for the the new Republican health care bill. He and his administration are actively meeting with members of Congress.

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President Trump is making his pitch for the new Republican health care bill personally with members of Congress. NPR's White House correspondent Tamara Keith reports.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: President Trump is inviting so many members of Congress over to the White House they might want to consider setting up a shuttle from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other. Take Tuesday - he met with two Republican senators and had lunch with one more, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. You might remember during that contentious Republican primary Trump read Graham's cellphone number out loud at a rally that was carried live on TV.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I wrote the number down. I don't know if it's the right number. Let's try it - 202...

(LAUGHTER)

KEITH: It was the right number. Graham got swamped with calls and had to change it. After his White House lunch, Graham said it went so well he gave the president his new number.

LINDSEY GRAHAM: Yeah.

KEITH: So how was the call last night?

GRAHAM: So far so good.

KEITH: He has called you already on it.

GRAHAM: He has.

KEITH: Do you feel like he is wooing senators and members of Congress in a new way?

GRAHAM: I think he's doing a good job of trying to get to know people personally.

KEITH: After the lunch that day, Trump met with nearly two dozen members of the House GOP Whip Team, the members of Congress tasked with getting their colleagues to vote for the health care bill. Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole was there and says the president clearly enjoys chatting with members of Congress.

TOM COLE: You know, he's very good at it. I think actually it's the part of the job he may like the most.

KEITH: There were apples set out on the tables as the representatives introduced themselves. Cole says when it was New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik's turn, Trump knew exactly who she was.

COLE: It got to her and he said youngest woman ever elected to Congress. And then he goes, none of the rest of us can say anything like that, and the whole place burst out laughing. So he was, like, really engaging.

KEITH: Cole says this kind of thing can make lawmakers giddy and put them in the mood to help the president. Mark Meadows is a Republican congressman from North Carolina and chairman of the Conservative Freedom Caucus.

MARK MEADOWS: Any time that you're with the president of the United States, you feel like you're with a guy that you've known for years.

KEITH: Meadows met with Trump on Thursday, and he's going back to the White House next week with a coveted invite to the bowling alley.

MEADOWS: You know, I'm not a bowler. I'm going over next Tuesday for pizza and policy is what I'm calling at the bowling alley. How about that?

KEITH: And here's the thing about Meadows and his Freedom Caucus colleagues - Trump won in their districts big league, but they don't like this health care bill. If the roughly 40 members of the Freedom Caucus stick together and vote against it, the bill will fail.

MEADOWS: I think he understands that if it was personality driven, most the Freedom Caucus would already be with him. Hopefully he knows that it has nothing to do with respect or admiration that we have for the president as much as it is just real policy concerns.

KEITH: During the Obama presidency, there was a regular complaint that he didn't spend enough time personally courting members of Congress. Trump is clearly going in the opposite direction. And Senator Graham welcomes the change.

GRAHAM: It's not just the fact that you meet. It's that you're fact - you're listening. I think he's a darn good listener. The thing about him is when you're in the room, he puts full attention on you. That's a really good quality.

KEITH: But passing bills is about getting votes. And the charm offensive for this health care bill will be the first big test of the persuasive powers of President Trump. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Washington.

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