Trump visits GOP Capitol Hill, trashes Milwaukee

Senate Republicans clap for Donald Trump

It was his first time back at Capitol Hill since his supporters stormed Congress on Jan. 6, 2021

(Image credit: Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

published 14 June 2024

What happened

Donald Trump returned to Capitol Hill on Thursday for the first time since his supporters stormed Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump met separately with House and Senate Republicans, in what The Associated Press said was a "triumphant return" to a Washington "successfully purged" of his GOP critics.

Who said what

The meetings were supposed to highlight GOP unity under Trump's leadership, but "much of the focus was instead on stray comments he made," The New York Times said. "Perhaps most striking," Trump disparaged Milwaukee, "site of the Republican National Convention in July." Milwaukee "is a horrible city," he said, according to Jake Sherman at Punchbowl News.

"Republican members of Wisconsin's congressional delegation offered varying accounts of the comment's context," saying he was talking about crime or voter fraud, "and one claimed it wasn't uttered at all," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said.

Trump also reportedly made odd comments about Taylor Swift, Nancy Pelosi and "nice guy" Hannibal Lecter, the fictional cannibal. One Republican attendee said to NOTUS that Trump's "rambling" performance was "like talking to your drunk uncle at the family reunion."

What next?

Trump plans to host House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) at Mar-a-Lago next week to discuss policy, Axios said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.