President Donald Trump hosted a dinner with six senators on Tuesday night, including three moderate Democrats.
Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana joined Republican senators Orrin Hatch of Utah, John Thune of South Dakota, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania for the meal.
The group discussed tax reform and infrastructure with the president and his Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and his economic advisor Gary Cohn.
The White House revealed that the dinner was “productive” in a readout of the event.
“Through bipartisan outreach efforts like this, President Trump is demonstrating his commitment to fulfilling his promises, and that includes producing tangible results on important issues like tax reform,” the statement from the White House read.
The Democrats who attended appeared positive about Trump’s tax reform ideas, but cautioned that they wanted to see more details from the president.
Senator Joe Manchin talked about the dinner the next day with Morning Joe, voicing optimism about the president’s plan.
“The president was adamant from the get-go, this is not a tax cut for the rich,” Manchin said.
He was insistent that the tax code should be simplified for all Americans but agreed with the president that tax reform would help boost the economy.
“If the markets feel that they have a pathway forward if they feel there is some consistency, I’ll guarantee you our markets, our economy, will take off like a rocket,” Manchin said.