President Trump now may be in favor of the Export-Import Bank, according to Republican lawmakers who met with him privately Thursday, even though Trump once condemned the bank as corporate welfare.
Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said Trump spoke positively about reviving the trade bank, which has been hobbled thanks to Senate Republicans who have refused to approve a full board of directors.
Trump’s support could change that, Cramer said. Cramer was among a group of about ten Republicans Trump invited to the White House who were his earliest Capitol Hill supporters.
Trump invited them to see the Oval Office after an hour-long meeting, and suggested he had changed his mind about the bank, according to Cramer.
“He said, ‘you know, I wasn’t a real believer until I talked to some of the job creators who use it, about the competitive disadvantages it erases,'” Cramer said. “And he was all on board with that.”
Trump is now interested in filling the board seats left vacant that have prevented the bank from fully functioning, Cramer said.
“He asked for names as a matter of fact,” Cramer said, adding that they didn’t talk about specific names at the meeting.
Cramer acknowledged the widespread GOP opposition to the bank, which temporarily stalled funding for it in 2015.
“Certainly the power of the tweet helps,” Cramer said. “And by that I mean just the bully pulpit in general. Anything is more successful if he’s pushing it than when he’s not.”
Trump will travel to Charleston Friday to view the rollout of the Boeing 747-10. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, a significant beneficiary of the bank, has urged Trump to keep it going.
