President Trump and Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., agreed to put the past behind them during a White House meeting on Friday that came weeks after Corker suggested the president had not demonstrated enough competence to be a successful leader.
“The president and Senator Corker had a productive meeting in which they discussed a wide range of shared legislative priorities for the fall session,” the White House said in a readout following the sit-down.
Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sat down with Trump days before the president is slated to meet with several heads of state at the 72nd annual United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City. The two men discussed the current state of foreign affairs and the administration’s desire for bipartisan tax reform, according to the readout.
“The administration looks forward to continued partnership with Senator Corker and other members of Congress in order to ensure a productive fall legislative session,” the White House said.
Trump and Corker clashed late last month after the president initially declined to explicitly condemn several white nationalist groups that were behind a rally that turned violent in Charlottesville, Va.
“The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the competence, that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful,” Corker had said during a visit back home over August recess.
Trump later responded by claiming that residents of Tennessee were “not happy” with their senator, whom he alleged had “constantly [been] asking me whether or not he should run again in [2018].”
