Present at the Creation?

The excuse was a comment by Santorum on the morning radio show of comedian Joe Piscopo in New York. When workers lose their jobs, Santorum had said, business people aren’t always to blame. He hadn’t mentioned Trump. But Trump texted him a transcript of the Piscopo interview with a circle around that comment. Trump added: “Come see me.”

Two weeks later, Santorum dropped by Trump Tower. He was in New York on other business. His 16-year-old daughter, Sarah, was with him.

When he walked into Trump’s office, he learned instantly why Trump was eager to see him. “I read your book,” Trump said. The book, Blue Collar Conservatives, had been published a few months earlier. It focuses on the theme of Santorum’s presidential campaigns in 2012 and again this season: that millions of working-class Americans have been left behind by the globalized economy and “neither party hears them.”

Santorum couldn’t believe Trump had read the book. “No, I really read your book,” Trump insisted. “It’s great.” Santorum had written that Republicans should speak up for middle- and lower-income workers and their families. Trump agreed. “That’s where the Republicans need to go,” he said. And that’s exactly where Trump has gone to build a large constituency for his presidential bid.

The book may not have given Trump the central idea of his campaign. But at the very least, it sharpened his thinking. In public, Trump often touts his bestseller The Art of the Deal. His presidential bid is “the biggest deal of my life,” and its lessons guide his campaign strategy, he told the Wall Street Journal. Santorum’s book has guided his working-class sympathies.

“He liked the idea of being concerned about working men and women who have lost the opportunity to have the good-paying jobs they used to have,” Santorum told me. The meeting lasted an hour, with Trump doing most of the talking.

A major point in Blue Collar Conserv-atives is that Republicans have failed to address “the plight” of the working class. “Low taxes and lean government are good macro-economic policy, but it’s hard for ordinary people to see how that policy will affect them and their families,” Santorum wrote. “In recent years, the interests of the ‘talk only about deficits and growth’ wing of the party have received too much emphasis, and it has come at the expense of working families.”

In his campaign speeches, Trump echoes Santorum’s thinking. “In upward mobility, the Land of Opportunity is falling behind the rest of the world,” Santorum wrote. America’s decline is the premise for Trump’s vow “to make America great again.” In their meeting, Trump cited China and Mexico as culprits in taking advantage of America. “They’re killing us,” he said, a notion he often repeats as a presidential candidate.

“We need to examine our trade policies,” Santorum wrote. “I am a free trader, but we have to look at the effect of free trade on the average person. .  .  . Are existing trade laws fair and properly enforced?” Trump would say no. He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty as poorly negotiated, unfair, and harmful to American workers.

Santorum doesn’t dwell on immigration in his book, but his views are well known and Trump is generally in sync with them. “We must reduce immigration levels to the United States in order to protect American workers from foreign labor that is taking jobs that Americans could otherwise hold,” Santorum has said. He doesn’t advocate mass deportations of illegal immigrants. Trump does.

The meeting in New York wasn’t Santorum’s first exchange with Trump. In 2012, Trump appeared on Greta Van Susteren’s Fox News show. He talked about presidential candidates and when asked about Santorum, Trump labeled him “a loser,” citing the loss of his Senate seat in 2006.

Santorum called Trump’s office the next day. Within 24 hours, Trump called back. “You called me a loser,” Santorum said. Trump answered that Santorum had lost his reelection race.

What if you invest in a business deal and it doesn’t work out? Santorum asked. Does that make you a loser? Does that mean no one should invest with you? Trump’s response, according to Santorum: “Well, that’s a good point.” To which Santorum said, “Stop calling me a loser.”

In the call, Trump told Santorum he was “just too conservative.” Santorum stressed abortion and marriage issues too much, Trump said. “That doesn’t go over in New York.”

Santorum replied with an analogy Trump might understand. His talk about moral and cultural issues was like investing in a small piece of real estate, followed by a larger piece, then an even bigger one. He was building up credibility to talk eventually about national security. “That makes a lot of sense,” Trump said, according to Santorum.

As their meeting in September 2014 wound down, Trump said he wanted Sarah Santorum to pick out something from his “gift shop” on the ground floor of Trump Tower. Santorum balked, but Trump said he was “too cheap.” Trump prevailed. The shop consisted of Trump jewelry and other items displayed in glass cases, plus ties.

“You need a tie,” he told Santorum. “Big men,” Trump said, “don’t wear long-enough ties. We carry extra long ties.” He showed Santorum a few ties. “You pick one out.” When Santorum balked, Trump handed him the ties. “Here, take all of them.” When I interviewed Santorum last week, he was wearing a Trump tie, a red one.

During their meeting, Trump said he was thinking of running for the Republican nomination in 2016, but hadn’t yet decided. Running would be a sacrifice for him, he suggested. He had a “better life” than a president has. He could go wherever he wanted. He could fly on his own plane. But Trump managed to overcome those apprehensions and announced his candidacy last June.

Santorum dropped out of the 2016 presidential race on February 3 after finishing 11th in the Iowa caucuses (which he’d won in 2012). As he left the race, he endorsed Marco Rubio. Trump was upset. He sent word that before backing Rubio, Santorum should have called him.

Santorum hasn’t heard from Trump again.

Fred Barnes is an executive editor at The Weekly Standard.