Trump To Meet With Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE SUNDAY, APRIL 13 - FILE - In this March 25, 2014, file photo, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., speaks at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Was... ADVANCE FOR RELEASE SUNDAY, APRIL 13 - FILE - In this March 25, 2014, file photo, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., speaks at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The freshman from North Dakota fashioned herself as an independent-minded candidate as she won an upset victory in 2012. And she has carried that ethos into her second year in office, emerging as perhaps the White House’s most consistent Democratic critic on energy policy. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) MORE LESS
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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.

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for hoagie hoagie says:

    Smart move to nab two D Senators for his cabinet and have them replaced with Rs.

  2. Avatar for jarnj3 jarnj3 says:

    Wouldn’t it be a dead end move for her? Doubtful the Democratic party would welcome her back after the experience…

  3. Why do I picture him high atop his evil lair wringing his hands malevolently while thinking up ways to humiliate her, like a contestant on a Japanese game show?

    Oh, right, because he probably is.

  4. He just wants to grab her by the pussy and get to know her, that’s all.

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