McConnell pri­vate­ly mends fences with Trump as oth­er GOP sen­a­tors seek spot­light

For­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump and Sen­ate Minor­i­ty Leader Mitch McConnell (R‑KY) set aside their years­long rival­ry on Thurs­day to strate­gize about the GOP’s 2024 play­book and retak­ing the Sen­ate major­i­ty.
Speak­ing with the for­mer pres­i­dent for the first time since before the Jan. 6 Capi­tol riot, McConnell shook hands with Trump as they greet­ed for a meet­ing with GOP sen­a­tors at Sen­ate Repub­li­cans’ cam­paign head­quar­ters on Capi­tol Hill.
The two sat next to one anoth­er, at one point even fist-bump­ing, at what was described as a cor­dial meet­ing with a “gra­cious” Trump, accord­ing to oth­er Repub­li­can sen­a­tors in atten­dance.
McConnell declined to stick around for an on-cam­era press con­fer­ence with Trump and oth­er Repub­li­cans, but he described the pri­vate por­tion of the event as “entire­ly pos­i­tive” and said the two of them “got a chance to talk.”
“We have great uni­ty,” Trump said, flanked by GOP sen­a­tors. “We have great com­mon sense, a lot of very smart peo­ple in this room.”
Trump was in town to meet with the Busi­ness Round­table lob­by­ing group and met ear­li­er in the day with House …