00:02President Trump went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, hoping to rally Republicans around his agenda.
00:07Instead, he ended up in a heated exchange with one of his party senators.
00:11Trump spent more than an hour behind closed doors with Senate Republicans,
00:15and by several accounts, it got testy. The biggest flashpoint came when Trump questioned
00:20why four Republicans joined Democrats in backing a war powers resolution,
00:24directing him to pull troops from hostilities against Iran.
00:28Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, one of those four Republicans, pushed back,
00:33saying lawmakers still haven't received a full briefing on the war or its objectives.
00:38According to people in the room, the exchange quickly escalated with both men raising their voices.
00:45Cassidy later told reporters he makes no apologies for standing up to the president, saying, quote,
00:50he didn't particularly care for my comments, raised his voice, I lost my temper. It's the Irish in me.
00:56But again, I matched his tone and his volume, and it went back and forth.
01:01Now, tensions have been growing between Trump and some Senate Republicans over Iran,
01:06the SAVE Act, and Trump's decision to put a bipartisan housing bill on hold
01:10until Congress acts on his election reform priorities.
01:13Despite the fireworks, Trump emerged from the meeting, calling it a success.
01:18I think we had a really great meeting, and we're very proud of the party. We like our leader. We
01:25like
01:25everybody really in the room. I don't like a few people, but that's OK. I think you know who they
01:30are. But we — I'll give you — I'll give you that information someday. But for the most part,
01:36we have a really well-unified party.
01:37Trump also used the meeting to press Republicans to pass the SAVE Act,
01:42a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote,
01:45even as GOP leaders continue to say it doesn't have the votes to pass the Senate.
01:50Well, just hours after that tense meeting with Senate Republicans,
01:54a separate War Powers vote went Trump's way. In a late-night vote, Senate Republicans blocked
01:59another resolution that would have required Trump to get congressional approval before taking more
02:04military action against Iran. The reversal came less than a day after four Republicans joined
02:09Democrats in backing a very similar measure. This time, only Republican Senators Susan Collins and
02:15Lisa Murkowski voted with Democrats. Trump quickly celebrated the result on Truth Social,
02:20singling out Senator Bill Cassidy for changing his vote and saying the decision put Iran on notice.
02:26Cassidy says he only switched positions after a reassuring meeting with Vice President J.D. Vance
02:31and Special Envoy Steve Wyckoff. Senator Rand Paul, who also changed his vote to present,
02:38said his decision followed Wednesday's lunch with the president. The vote does not change the House
02:43War Powers resolution the Senate approved on Tuesday, which remains in place, though largely symbolic.
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