The icy relationship between Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress may be starting to thaw.
Both House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Tuesday discussed having positive phone conversations with Trump after weeks of refusing to even mention the business mogul by name.
In both cases, Trump picked up the phone first.
“Donald Trump called this morning and we had a good conversation,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday. “I appreciated his call.”
Hours earlier, Ryan revealed, “Trump called us” and added “we called him back” to discuss the House GOP agenda.
Trump’s outreach marks the first real communication between the Republicans and the man who is most likely to become their party’s nominee for president.
Both leaders appear to have softened their attitude toward Trump, who just weeks ago McConnell promised to drop “like a hot rock,” if he were to secure the nomination and become a political threat to down-ballot Republicans.
Neither McConnell nor Ryan would disclose what Trump had to say during the calls, which one Republican described as Trump “just reaching out,” and not very substantive.
McConnell said he talked to Trump about the recent disruptions at his campaign rallies which have resulted in some acts of violence and were provoked by groups associated with Moveon.org and Black Lives Matter.
“I took the opportunity to recommend to him that no matter who may be triggering these violent expressions or conflicts that we’ve seen at some of these rallies, it might be a good idea to condemn that, and discourage it no matter what the source of it,” McConnell recounted.
Earlier Tuesday, Ryan said he talked to Trump as well as the other GOP candidates about the House Republican agenda.
“I walked them through our agenda project,” Ryan said. “And we got very good reception from all of the candidates, including Trump.”
Trump has also taken a much more conciliatory approach to congressional Republicans, who control majorities in both the House and the Senate.
Trump told CNN last week that he talked to Ryan but said the speaker phoned him.
“I had such a great talk with Paul Ryan,” Trump told CNN. “He called the other day. He was so great.”
Just a few weeks ago, Trump was threatening Ryan in a remarkable primary victory speech. Trump told reporters on March 1 he could “get along great” with Ryan, but he warned, “If I don’t, he’s going to have to pay a big price.”
Ryan later said he “laughed out loud,” when he heard the threat.
“Sometimes, reality is stranger than fiction around here,” Ryan said at the time.
But Republican leaders aren’t laughing at the reality of the delegate math, which shows Trump with a commanding lead over the other candidates and poised to pick up many more delegates in Tuesday’s multi-state primary.
Trump is in the lead with 469 delegates, running ahead of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who has 370 delegates. Trailing far behind the two are Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., with 163 delegates and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has won just 63 delegates.
Cruz has also been contemplating a move to reach out to Congress with a possible meeting with Senate Republicans, GOP leaders said.
Cruz is running as an outsider candidate and has bolstered that image by bucking the Senate leadership since he took office in 2013. He’s unpopular with Senate leaders, including the one from his own state, Sen. John Cornyn, who said he would nonetheless welcome either Cruz or Trump to come visit with the GOP in Congress.
“I don’t think it’s surprising that the presidential candidates are reaching out to members of Congress,” Cornyn said. “I think it’s just a natural part of the process.”
