A conga line of angsty Republican lawmakers filed through the West Wing on Wednesday, hemming and hawing about the big domestic policy bill that President Trump wants them to pass by Friday. They walked out with signed merchandise, photos in the Oval Office and, by some accounts, a newfound appreciation for the bill — targets all of a blunt-force charm offensive waged with precision by the president.
One White House official said Mr. Trump had a line he used on many of his phone calls and meetings with wobbly Republicans: “Don’t give the Democrats a win. Don’t play into their hands.” He got the Senate to pass a version of the bill on Tuesday. So Wednesday was spent cajoling, wheedling and coaxing Republican members of the House.
It’s not as though there were just a few holdouts. He needed to convince different kinds of factions with all sorts of demands, fiscal hawks and moderates alike. By the day’s end, it was still unclear whether the bill was going to make it through, but there was some evidence that his methods were proving effective.
A clique of House Freedom Caucus members walked out of the White House in the early afternoon, their attitudes seemingly adjusted. Representative Tim Burchett, Republican of Tennessee, was one of them. He posted a video on social media gushing about the two-hour experience he’d just had with his president.
“The president was wonderful, as always,” Mr. Burchett said in the video. “Informative, funny, he told me he likes seeing me on TV, which was kind of cool.” Representative Byron Donalds, Republican of Florida, is shown in the video, too. “Did you show them what he signed for you?” Mr. Donalds asks Mr. Burchett. “Yeah, he signed a bunch of stuff,” Mr. Burchett said. “It’s cool.”
Mr. Burchett told The New York Times later on that his name had been misspelled on the placard placed in front of his chair for the Cabinet Room meeting (it was missing an “r”) so the president scribbled in the letter, signed both sides of the card and gave it to him as a souvenir. Mr. Burchett said the president also loaded up the son of Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, with souvenirs.
Mr. Trump has many ways of making members do what he wants. The all-powerful party boss can be frightfully vindictive. Republicans live in constant fear of being struck by one of his thunderbolts on social media. (After Mr. Trump fired one at Thom Tillis over the weekend, the Republican senator from North Carolina said he would no longer seek re-election.) But Mr. Trump can also turn on the charm with ease. This is a man who spent his entire professional life working in hospitality and show business. It is background that has served him well in Washington.
Mr. Trump knows how to make lowly lawmakers feel special. He sends them handwritten attaboys. He takes their phone calls at all hours of the day, even interrupting high-level West Wing meetings so as not to miss them. He brings them to Ultimate Fighting Championship fights and sits them ringside with his entourage. He invites them into the social whirl at Mar-a-Lago. All of which can feel incredibly heady for small-time members of Congress who lead unglamorous, workaday lives.
Even the more prominent ones find it can be rather seductive.
Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said that when he golfs or dines with the president at one his clubs, Mr. Trump asks: “Can I get you something? Would you like anything other than wings?”
Over the weekend, before the Senate passed the bill, Mr. Trump played golf with Mr. Graham; Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky; Senator Eric Schmitt, Republican of Missouri; and John Ratcliffe, the director of the C.I.A. He later met with two more Republican senators, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rick Scott of Florida, at the club in Virginia.
“He likes hosting people,” Mr. Graham said. “It relaxes him.” He said that Mr. Trump told him he could go to the pro shop and pick out a shirt.
Shawn McCreesh is a White House reporter for The Times covering the Trump administration.
Tyler Pager is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
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