Trump’s lunch with the Senate Steering Committee was organized by its chairman, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL). Scott, one of Trump’s home-state senators, is a firm supporter of blowing up the 60-vote filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act.

The visit comes amid tension between Trump and the Senate GOP over not just the SAVE America Act, but also the Iran war and government spy powers. Earlier this month, the Senate handed Trump dual defeats on White House security funding and a $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund. On Tuesday, the Senate also passed a symbolic resolution to force Trump to remove U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran. Four Senate Republicans backed the rebuke.

Former Republican National Committee communications director Doug Heye said there are “cracks” in Trump’s relationship with Senate Republicans because of the president’s “‘my way or the highway’ push on seemingly everything.” Heye said such an approach is “unrealistic given the Senate’s close margin.”

“And Republican senators reasonably continue to want answers on Iran and rising prices, instead of ballrooms and reflecting pools,” Heye told the Washington Examiner.

That tension is most visible with the SAVE America Act itself. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has repeatedly said he does not have the votes to pass the legislation.

“We have to be able to get proof of citizenship when you vote, otherwise we don’t have elections,” Trump said on Tuesday. “We have to be able to get voter ID. So, John is a leader and hopefully he can get the votes.”

With Republicans defending a narrow majority and facing several competitive races this year, some senators have become more willing to challenge the White House on issues they view as politically risky or where they believe the Senate’s institutional interests are being overlooked.

That dynamic was evident in the backlash to Trump’s appointment of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. The controversy surrounding Pulte’s lack of intelligence experience became a source of frustration for Senate Republicans as they sought to renew the government’s spy powers authority.

Senate Republicans have also bristled at some of Trump’s political interventions. Several were frustrated by the president’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), one of the conference’s most prolific fundraisers, in the race to represent the Lone Star State.

The White House declined to answer the Washington Examiner’s questions regarding the importance Trump places on his relationship with Senate Republicans, but GOP strategist Ryan Berger advised the president, should he want to improve it, to tell senators on Wednesday how he is going to use his “biggest microphone in the country … from now until the election.”

“There are many great accomplishments the president should tout, from tax cuts to border security, that will greatly help in November,” Berger told the Washington Examiner. “There will be some hard feelings in the room, but ultimately the president and Republicans in Congress benefit from highlighting their successes, not diving into their differences.”

LATINO GROUP HOMES IN ON KEY MIDTERM RACES, HOPING TO HELP GOP WITH HISPANICS

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans publicly maintain they are poised to perform well in the elections as they work to protect their three-seat majority in the chamber, excluding Vice President JD Vance’s tiebreaking vote.

“Senate Republicans and President Trump delivered the largest tax cuts in American history and are on the cusp of passing bipartisan legislation to unlock homeownership for a new generation of working families,” National Republican Senatorial Committee communications director Joanna Rodriguez told the Washington Examiner. “The president is an essential partner in the fight to hold radical Democrats like Graham Platner, Roy Cooper, and Abdul El Sayed accountable, and together, we’re going to defeat them in November.”