Republican Leaders Meeting With Trump in New Jersey Soon: Rep. Jim Banks

Then-President Donald Trump speaks to media before departing on Marine One en route to Ohio and Texas, from the White House South Lawn in Washington on Aug. 7, 2019. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

House Republicans are slated to meet with former President Donald Trump in New Jersey next week to discuss how to proceed with advancing a conservative agenda, said Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.).

“At Republican Study Committee, we’ve been very busy as we develop the consensus conservative agenda for the future of the Republican Party, and that agenda is the Trump agenda,” he told the New York Post on Thursday, adding that the trip on June 10 will be the first time that several members of Banks’s Republican Study Committee have met with Trump since he left office in January.

“We’re looking forward to going up to visit with him to discuss what we’ve been up to and what we plan to do for not just the rest of this term in the minority, but when we get the majority back, but talk to him about what we, what we hope to accomplish,” Banks said.

Trump aide and spokesman Jason Miller on Twitter appeared to confirm Banks’s remarks, posting a “thumbs-up” emoji along with the NY Post’s article.

Reports have indicated that Trump relocated his fundraising operations to his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, from Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

It’s not clear what Trump, Banks, and the other lawmakers will discuss.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) speaks to The Epoch Times in an interview in March 2019. Video screenshot/The Epoch Times

The House Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservative GOP lawmakers, in mid-May unveiled its own budget proposal (pdf) to counter President Joe Biden’s spending plans, including cutting funding on some mandatory programs. It would cut current projections for Medicaid spending by about $2.5 trillion and would reduce other health program spending by $3.3 trillion.

Banks told the NY Post that the Republican Study Committee is looking for the former president to play a significant role in the GOP regardless of whether he decides to run in 2024 or not.

“At [Republican Study Committee], what we’ve been focused on is really developing an agenda, the traditional conservative issues that RSC has always been involved with: balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility, we released our budget last week, strong national defense, and pro-life, social conservative issues. But really, President Trump, where he’s led our party, is to be more focused on the China threat and RSC has been very active on that front,” Banks told the paper.

This year, Banks became one of the chief proponents for Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) to be pushed out of her House leadership position following her increasingly critical comments about Trump and the Jan. 6 Capitol incident.

“One of my jobs is to hold my Republican leadership accountable for being focused on the Republican ideals that we stand for and the single mission we have to win back the majority,” he told Fox News during an appearance in May. “The only reason why we are talking about Liz Cheney is the exact evidence that she’s failed in her mission as the chief spokesperson of our party.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to Trump’s team for comment.