‘Fully ready’: Trump’s allies say he is better positioned than ever to pass the agenda

president Donald Trump’s Republican allies in the House say he is better positioned than ever to enact his legislative agenda, entering the White House armed with nearly a decade of Washington knowledge.

“The first time, he was a great businessman, but he didn’t know Washington. Now he has it down,” said Rep. Jeff Van Drew, RNJ, a close Trump ally who switched parties to better align with him during his first term. “He’s totally ready for this. Last time he was learning. He’s learned. He’s ready to go.”

Several Republican House lawmakers who served in Congress during Trump’s first term described a man who returns to D.C. with a triumphant election victory and a strong understanding of how Capitol Hill and the broader D.C. network works.

Several said the changes are evident in the near-constant communication between him and his team with Republican lawmakers and in the people he hires for his team.

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“Now he knows that Washington is generally going to back off, and they’re going to do what they want to do, whether you call it the Deep State, the establishment or the one-party. I think he’s very aware of that, and I think he is. address these issues,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa. “He understands that personnel is political, so he’s trying to put the right people in place, not because they’re loyal to him, but because they’re loyal to the agenda that the people want.”

Within hours of being sworn in on Monday, Trump held public events where he signed dozens of executive orders to promulgate promises did during the campaign.

All the while, he has remained in close contact with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-D., as well as convening a flurry of Republicans from Chamber at Mar-a-Lago earlier this month to discuss the GOP agenda.

Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., a former founding member of the House Freedom Caucus who served in the House from 2010 to 2017 and is back for another term, noted a stark difference from the days of the old Speaker Paul Ryan.

“It didn’t seem like he and Speaker Ryan were on the same page going into Congress. I saw them having discussions about the election and the rallies, and they just had different perspectives, which I think is unfortunate because it was a really lost opportunity for a lot of things to do,” Stutzman said.

“This time, he knows Washington, he’s got a great team that he’s putting together, and I think his team will be much more disciplined and focused on the four-year window to do as much as possible.”

Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., a former member of the House GOP leadership, also remarked on Trump’s decision. focus on Congress.

“His first term was clearly a populist campaign. He had very smart people, but he had no experience in Congress,” Palmer said. “That’s not happening now. They’ve worked very closely with us. I feel like we’re all on the same page about what needs to be done.”

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Freshman Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo., who had been a radio host before his political career, noted that the media environment Trump entered had been more receptive compared to 2016.

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“It kind of broke the media complex. It seemed like: the media that was resisting it in 2016, now they’ve realized, ‘Well, maybe that was the censorship we were doing, and maybe that’s not the best thing for to our business model,” Crank said. “But whatever it is, they’ve joined it, right, in a lot of ways.”

A big part of Trump’s education in D.C. came during the four years he was out of office, said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a longtime ally. But he and others agreed that, at his core, Trump has not changed.

“There’s no question it’s better than if he had run for a second term. It’s the same though. He knows what he believes,” Issa said.