‘Trump likes winners’: How John Thune manages the Senate and Donald Trump

Shortly after Donald Trump blindsided senators and endorsed the House’s plan to advance the president’s agenda Wednesday, Senate Leader John Thune convened his leadership team to navigate next steps.

Shortly after Donald Trump blindsided senators and endorsed the House’s plan to advance the president’s agenda last week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune convened his leadership team to navigate next steps. Leadership needed to decide fast: would they plow ahead with their plan to advance their own Senate budget knowing it wasn’t the president’s first choice or would they sit back and wait for the House to try and muscle through their version knowing there was a chance it would fail and time would be wasted? Thune weighed in at the top. It was his preference, senators in the room said, to stay the course, hold the vote and endure an overnight voting marathon to get there even if the House ultimately shelved their plan. But the South Dakota Republican wanted his leadership team to weigh in before he made his final call. They agreed. There was no turning back. “He just stiffened his resolve and his opinion with no uncertainty, and I think that is the real strength that he has,” GOP conference chair Shelley Moore Capito told CNN of Thune’s process. The incident offers a small glimpse into how the newly minted Senate leader is navigating an unpredictable president he hasn’t always seen eye to eye with while balancing a majority that has more room for error than in the House but is far from guaranteed to vote in lockstep in the weeks and months ahead.