By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - Former US President Donald Trump made his first visit to Capitol Hill to meet with Republicans since the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
"We’re going to have great success! We’re going to have a tremendous election. November 5th is very important," Trump told reporters Thursday after holding separate closed-door meetings with House and Senate Republicans.
Delivering a message of "unity," he promised to make the US "great again."
Trump and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell came together and shook hands for the first time since 2020, when they had a falling out over Trump’s plan to contest President Joe Biden’s victory in that year’s election.
Following the gathering at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, McConnell told reporters that it was an "entirely positive meeting."
House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was an "honor" to host Trump, adding: "With President Trump, we are going to win back the White House, win the Senate, and grow the House majority. When we do that, we will not waste a moment to fix all the great problems facing our country right now."
The visit came after Trump was found guilty last month of all 34 charges related to his hush money trial by a New York jury, making him the first former US president to be convicted of felony criminal charges.
The Republican presidential candidate attacked the judge who oversaw his criminal case, saying America is a “fascist state” and claimed the prosecution had been engineered by the Biden administration.