The News
President Donald Trump plans to travel the battleground map to stump for Senate Republicans — where he’s wanted — in the homestretch of the election.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles delivered that message to a group of Republican senators on Monday evening, according to multiple people familiar with the meeting, who said Trump’s itinerary includes a trek to Alaska to help GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan.
He’s not booked for a trip to must-win Maine, the home of incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, one attendee said, though the president’s travel schedule over the next month isn’t finalized. “He’s not going to be everywhere. He’s going to be where he’s strategically most helpful,” said a second attendee.
Olivia Wales, a White House spokesperson, said “President Trump is the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party, and he is committed to maintaining Republican majorities in Congress.”
Know More
Wiles gathered with the senators and White House legislative affairs director James Braid in the office of Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, a huddle that included GOP senators including Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Tim Sheehy of Montana, Rick Scott of Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Steve Daines of Montana, and Bernie Moreno of Ohio.
They discussed messaging and the White House told senators it wants to be as helpful as possible in the midterms, the second attendee said. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he also spoke to White House officials on Monday. He said they “covered a lot of subjects.”
“Ultimately the White House is going to have to decide how they want to deploy the president, the way they think it makes the most sense and the way it makes the biggest difference,” Thune said on Tuesday morning.