WASHINGTON -- All six members of the Arkansas congressional delegation met with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday morning, hearing from the person who is poised to lead their party in November.
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The four U.S. House members joined their Republican colleagues for a meeting at the Capitol Hill Club.
The two U.S. senators huddled with Trump and other lawmakers at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a few blocks away.
For several, this was their first time in the same room with the New York billionaire.
None of the six backed Trump in the Arkansas presidential primary; all have said they'll support their party's nominee.
"It was actually a pretty good meeting," said U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs. "He talked about national security, he talked about health care, he talked about overreach and over-regulation, he talked about undoing some of the executive orders that the president has done. On the issues, I thought he hit the right topics and talked about things that are important."
Asked if the visit made him feel more comfortable about Trump's presidential bid, Westerman said it had. "He's going to be the nominee, so I've got to get comfortable with it," he added. "It makes it easy when you look at who's running against him" -- presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Westerman had met Trump before, during a July 2015 Republican Party of Arkansas fundraiser in Hot Springs.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman, on the other hand, had never encountered Trump until Thursday.
"I thought it was actually a positive meeting," the Rogers Republican said.
"His message was that we need to come together and [he] really talked about the issues in regard to jobs, the fact that for the last several years, that people's wages were flat. ... He also talked about immigration, the importance of securing the borders," Boozman said.
Overall, Trump's message touched on "the things that are on people's mind that I hear about when I travel around the state of Arkansas," he added.
Boozman said Trump should make a habit of stopping by Capitol Hill between now and November.
"I think it's something that should be repeated every month or so so we can have the opportunity to visit with each other," Boozman said. Such consultations would help Trump "get the input he needs from both the Senate and the House."
Other lawmakers also welcomed the chance to talk to Trump.
In written statements, other members of the Arkansas delegation or their spokesmen portrayed Thursday's meeting positively.
U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, who hadn't spent time with Trump previously, said he was glad to see the candidate reaching out to lawmakers.
"Looking past November, if you've got a president who's a member of the same party that controls Congress, you're going to need elevated levels of cooperation to pass laws and get things done, so I thought it was a correct move for Mr. Trump to begin building that type of relationship with Congress," the Jonesboro Republican said. "After the election, we're going to need to move quickly on a lot of important topics, and I think the more prepared for that we are, then the better off we'll be."
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack found the meeting "informative," said his spokesman, Claire Burghoff.
The Rogers lawmaker hadn't spent time with Trump since the start of the campaign.
"He appreciated Mr. Trump taking the time to meet with Republican members and answer questions critical to his campaign," she added.
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, who met the front-runner earlier this year, "felt the meeting with Trump today was a productive, frank exchange where Senator Cotton again stressed the need for substantial and immediate increases in defense spending," spokesman Caroline Rabbitt said.
The Dardanelle Republican, who has been mentioned as a possible Trump vice presidential pick in recent weeks, has said he is not being vetted for the job.
The other Arkansan who heard Trump speak, U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock, declined to discuss the gathering.
A Section on 07/08/2016