McConnell happier with Trump tweets after tax victory

[December 23, 2017]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A summer spat between President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has turned into a warm embrace - and all it took was a sweeping rewrite of the U.S. tax code.

For months, McConnell urged the president to lock his cell phone in a drawer and retire his signature tweets that have Washington abuzz on a daily basis. He even chided Trump for having "excessive expectations" of Congress.

For his part, Trump scorched McConnell in August for failing to repeal Obamacare, sidestepped reporters' questions over whether the senator should retire and tweeted, "Mitch, get to work."

But with Congress' passage of the tax bill this week, giving Trump his first major legislative victory, the president tweeted on Wednesday, "I would like to congratulate @SenateMajLdr on having done a fantastic job."

McConnell joined in the love fest on Friday, or at least what constitutes a love fest for the understated senator.

"With regard to the president's tweeting habits, I haven't been a fan until this week. I'm warming up to it," McConnell quipped.

President Donald Trump celebrates with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Congressional Republicans after the U.S. Congress passed sweeping tax overhaul legislation on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., December 20, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Still, he reined in reporters who asked whether he might visit Trump in Mar-a-Lago, the president's Florida resort, over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

McConnell laughed and said he would instead be attending a Dec. 30 football game in Jacksonville, Fla. "That's the closest I'll get."

(Reporting By Richard Cowan; Editing by Kieran Murray and Susan Thomas)

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