“We are probably now — despite what we read...at least as far as I’m concerned, closer than ever before,” President Donald Trump (right) said of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo My relationship with McConnell is 'outstanding,' Trump says 
 
 President Donald Trump hailed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday as a longtime “friend” with whom he has a great relationship, suggesting there’s no frustration between the Republican leaders despite the president’s stalled legislative agenda. 
 
 “I just wanna say that we spent quite a bit of time inside with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who has been a friend of mine for a long time — long before my world of politics, early into his world of politics, I think,” Trump told reporters Monday afternoon in the Rose Garden following a private meeting with McConnell. 
 
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 “We’ve been friends for a long time. We are probably now — despite what we read — we’re probably now, I think, at least as far as I’m concerned, closer than ever before,” Trump said. “And the relationship is very good. We’re fighting for the same thing.” 
 
 Trump added that his relationship with McConnell — “this gentleman,” Trump said as he gestured toward the Senate leader — “is outstanding” and “has been outstanding.” The president said both men are working hard to pass tax cuts for the American people and reform the nation’s health care system. He also teased legislation on economic development, without offering any details. 
 
 “I’m going to be surprising some people with an economic development bill later on, but I haven’t even told Mitch because I want to focus on tax cuts and some other things right now,” Trump said. 
 
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 McConnell maintained a neutral facial expression as Trump appeared to share news with the press that he hadn’t informed the majority leader on and echoed the president’s view of their relationship. 
 
 “I wanna underscore what the president said: We have the same agenda,” McConnell said. “We’ve been friends and acquaintances for a long time. We talk frequently. We don’t give you a readout every time we have a conversation, but frequently we talk on the weekends about the issues that are before us.” 
 
 

 Story highlights The Senate Majority Leader has had tense relationship with Donald Trump 
 
 After the Senate failed to pass health care, Trump criticized Mitch McConnell 
 
 (CNN) President Donald Trump said Monday he feels "closer than ever before" to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a man he's publicly criticized for his handling of the GOP agenda and on whom the President is relying for getting a legislative accomplishment in the first year of his term. 
 
 "We have been friends for a long time," Trump said from the White House Rose Garden with the Kentucky Republican at his side. "We are probably now, despite what we read, we are probably now, I think, at least as far as I am concerned, we are closer than ever before and the relationship is very good. We are fighting for the same thing, we are fighting for lower taxes, big tax cuts, the biggest tax cuts in the history of our nation. We are fighting for tax reform as part of that." 
 
 Trump's comments followed a lunch meeting with McConnell, and come after the President's former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has pledged to wage a war on the Republican establishment and cited the Senate majority leader by name. 
 
 Trump said that he would try to talk Bannon out of declaring war on "some" of his primary targets saying, "I'm going to see if we can talk him out of that, because I think they're great people." 
 
 McConnell responded to Bannon's criticism by citing past Republican primary challengers who failed to make it into the Senate and stressing his relationship to Trump.
– Relations are reportedly chilly between President Trump and Mitch McConnell, but after their private meeting Monday, Trump told reporters he and the Senate majority leader have "been friends for a long time" and are now, "despite what we read ... closer than ever before. And the relationship is very good." He later referred, twice, to their relationship as "outstanding." Trump has reportedly been upset over the lack of movement on his legislative agenda, Politico reports, but on Monday he insisted he and McConnell are "fighting for the same thing," including tax cuts and health care reform. Trump was light on specifics but did offer up one policy tidbit: "I’m going to be surprising some people with an economic development bill later on, but I haven’t even told Mitch because I want to focus on tax cuts and some other things right now." McConnell "maintained a neutral facial expression" during that portion of the proceedings, per Politico, and then told reporters, "I want to underscore what the president said: We have the same agenda. We’ve been friends and acquaintances for a long time. We talk frequently. We don’t give you a readout every time we have a conversation." Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon has declared war on McConnell and other sitting Republicans; per CNN, Trump said he was going to "try to talk him out" of some of his targets.