WASHINGTON _ Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday disavowed the notion of increasing tensions between himself and President Donald Trump in response to a report that indicated their relationship had "disintegrated."
The New York Times reported Tuesday that McConnell and Trump had grown so mutually irritated that neither had spoken to each other since an Aug. 9 phone call that ended with both men fuming.
"The president and I, and our teams, have been and continue to be in regular contact about our shared goals," McConnell said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we are committed to advancing our shared agenda together and anyone who suggests otherwise is clearly not part of the conversation."
McConnell said he and the president were working together on a host of issues _ some facing critical September deadlines _ that Republicans hope will give them some legislative victories.
Besides tax reform and infrastructure, they include Congress voting to fund the government past Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown _ despite the president threatening the latter during a raucous rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night.
Trump called for a shutdown if money to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico was not included in appropriations bills that must pass Congress weeks after it reconvenes after Labor Day.
At the rally Tuesday night, Trump did not address the Times article but again reiterated the notion that it was time to "talk to Mitch" about changing the chamber's rules to allow for passing legislation with 51 votes.
Trump also again blasted both of Arizona's Republican senators while on their home turf _ but would not address Sen. John McCain or Sen. Jeff Flake by name.
In his list of congressional to-do's, McConnell said another area he and the president were working together on involved changing the 2010 health care law "to provide relief from Obamacare."
The Senate defeated a health care bill right before the August recess _ thanks to McCain's "no" vote.
Trump laid into McConnell in the Aug. 9 phone call in part because he believed the majority leader had dropped the ball on passing the health care bill, according to the Times.
