For Trump, Staying on the Line Helps Keep the G.O.P. in Line

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/us/politics/trump-phone-congress.html

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WASHINGTON — On a recent trip home to Wyoming, Senator John Barrasso received a message from the White House during his layover in Denver: The president is free. Call when you can.

For most people, such a summons would be extraordinary. For congressional Republicans like Mr. Barrasso, it is becoming old hat.

“He will see you on a morning show or a Sunday show and call and want to talk about it,” Mr. Barrasso, the No. 3 Senate Republican, said about President Trump. On that particular occasion, they conversed about a nomination issue, Mr. Barrasso recalled. “Then we can go off that topic and talk about golf and about Tiger Woods.”

Twitter is not the only means that Mr. Trump uses to communicate directly with his target audiences. He is also an eager caller to Capitol Hill, much more so than either of his two most recent predecessors. The constant contact is one reason that the president continues to defy predictions and retain strong Republican support, despite his often divisive public comments and unpredictable policy positions.

Fun fact: Top politicians are flattered by attention from the president, which can only enhance an already strong sense of self-importance.

“He calls everybody all the time,” said Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma.

Mr. Cole said he probably had more contact with Mr. Trump in 18 months than he did with Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush over their combined 16 years. “I have never seen a president who reaches out as consistently as this guy. It is just his style.”

Given his management approach — reserving ample television time with a phone close at hand — it is not surprising that Mr. Trump is known for spontaneously dialing up his supporters, and even the occasional Democrat.

He might also have more incentive to call because of his need to hold Republicans in line after his often incendiary remarks, as he did this month during a House effort to reprimand Mr. Trump for his demand that four progressive Democratic congresswomen “go back” to where they came from. Only four Republicans voted with the Democrats to condemn the president.

[Read more about President Trump’s attack on four congresswomen of color.]

Veteran Republicans say Mr. Trump employs the phone and the power of personality in a way that reminds them of Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton, both of whom were known for their success at influencing skittish members of Congress. Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama, in contrast, were considered distant figures by many of those on Capitol Hill; they might interact only at holiday receptions.

Mr. Obama in particular eschewed personal politicking in pursuit of his policy goals. “Why don’t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell,” he joked about the Kentucky Republican and Senate majority leader at a White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in a bit about complaints that he needed to build stronger relationships on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Trump’s frequent and spontaneous phone calls do carry certain risks. The president can cross up White House aides who are lobbying lawmakers and send mixed messages. But the rewards outweigh the risks, one top White House official said.

“The reality is, you could sit here and complain, or you can figure out how to maximize it,” said Marc Short, the former legislative affairs director for the Trump administration who is now chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Short said legislative operatives in other administrations would have killed to have a president so eager to personally work the Hill.

The idea that a president can turn around a lawmaker through schmoozing and personal appeal is sometimes dismissed as a thing of the past. But lawmakers say the phone calls, and the other little benefits that Mr. Trump can bestow, build a personal connection that the president might need when the going gets rough — as it often does with him.

“The phone calls and meetings matter,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who condemned Mr. Trump during the 2016 primary campaign but is now one of his closest congressional allies and a regular golf partner.

“When the president’s on the phone, you want your friends to hear it, because it gets the heart racing,” Mr. Graham said. “Or, the president would like to see you tomorrow in the Oval Office. I told him early on, the power of that is pretty amazing. But you have to use it wisely. You can overdo anything.”

It is not just the phone calls, which feature the president doing most of the talking. Lawmakers say Mr. Trump understands the value of political niceties, such as an unexpected compliment or an invitation to a White House dinner, followed by a tour of the Lincoln bedroom.

“He’s very comfortable doing that,” said Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, who still vividly remembers a simple missive from Mr. Trump about a statement the senator made. “He wrote a note on the actual article itself — he had torn it out of the newspaper — and wrote to me saying, ‘This is a really good quote,’ signed it, and it just showed up in my office at some point in our interoffice mail.”

Lawmakers say the president’s frequent calls offer some members of Congress a new status symbol, giving them the ability to act as beleaguered recipients of constant messages from a chief executive who can’t make a move without their wisdom. The phone connection also lets them share any disagreements with the president in private, without the danger of a public blowup, which can prompt a Twitter strike from Mr. Trump.

“He is going to talk about his positions, and I’m going to talk about my positions, but I think it is important to have that level of communication,” said Senator Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican who talks frequently on the phone with the president.

Mr. McConnell regularly recommends that Republicans who have a beef with Mr. Trump just get on the phone and speak to him.

“The thing about this president — Mitch reminds us of it all the time — this president takes phone calls from senators, Republicans and Democrats,” said Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, who is a close ally of the president. “This is what makes him different from the previous president. He takes phone calls and talks to members individually.”

The ready availability can also have its drawbacks. Mr. Cramer recalls being on Air Force One with the president last year when Mr. Trump returned a call he believed was from Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, who had recently been acquitted of corruption charges. The president congratulated him and suggested that Mr. Menendez had been treated unfairly. It turned out to be a prank call from a radio host, but the embarrassing episode did not diminish the president’s enthusiasm for working the phones.

“You always know it is the president of the United States on the other end of the line,” said Mr. Cole, the Oklahoma congressman, explaining one of the reasons that he is always ready to take the call. “It is somebody who has 95 percent approval from my primary voters.”