President Donald Trump was "very positive and optimistic" during his closed-door lunch with Republican lawmakers about getting people back to work and putting the coronavirus pandemic behind them, urging them to get tough on Democrats as the fall elections approach, Sen. John Barrasso said Wednesday.
"He did talk about the upcoming elections and the need for us to be strong and smart and tough in fighting the Democrats because we know what they have a tendency to want to do," the Wyoming Republican said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "We see their playbook in the Nancy Pelosi $3 trillion [bill], basically their playbook for 2020. When you look at the whole list of things that she is offering as basically a playoff to the political left, that's what this is. It's very partisan and it's not focused on getting our country open again in any sort of a targeted or timely or temporary way."
There are concerns about control of the Senate switching from Republican to Democrat hands, he acknowledged, as there are 23 Republicans up for reelection but only about a dozen Democrats.
"The margin is slim right now," he said. "The president was key to point out that if the Democrats take control of the Senate, that Chuck Schumer will change the rules on day one to make it harder to get things done in the second Trump administration."
Schumer has criticized Republicans for not moving forward with another coronavirus stimulus bill, but Barrasso said only about half the money that has already been approved has gone out.
"There's another $100 billion for hospitals and another $100 billion available in a paycheck protection plan," said Barrasso, while acknowledging another bill may be necessary.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.