President-elect Donald Trump will meet Friday with Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (ND), who hails from a state that voted decisively for Trump and who is up for re-election in 2018.
The meeting — which will take place in New York, where Trump has been hosting most of his meetings since his election — was first announced on a Trump transition team call Thursday morning. Heitkamp confirmed the plans for a meeting in a statement released shortly thereafter that suggested she was open to assisting Trump.
“I appreciate the president-elect inviting me for a meeting,” Heitkamp said. “Every single day, my work is motivated first and foremost by how I can be most helpful to the people of North Dakota.”
She added that, “Whatever job I do, I hope to work with the president-elect and all of my colleagues in Congress on both sides of the aisle to best support my state.”
On the Trump transition team call, spokesman Jason Miller would not say whether she was being looked at for a specific role in the Trump administration.
“When some folks who are coming, [they] are coming in to provide their insight and their experience as to how to make the administration better and even more effective for the American people,” Miller said. “Other folks are coming in for very specific positions.”
Last month the Trump team met with Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who has strayed from the Democratic Party line in the past.
Miller went on to call Heitkamp “highly recommended, very highly qualified,” and a “proven leader”
He added that she “would be an asset in any role or capacity, but of course we’ll leave that to the President-elect and so if we have any particular announcements in the future we will let you know.”
Esme Cribb contributed to this report.
