Trump vows to help GOP take back the House in 2022 in meeting with Kevin McCarthy

Former President Donald Trump appeared to mend fences in a "good and cordial meeting" with Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida Thursday, during which Trump committed to helping the GOP take back the House in the 2022 midterm elections.

"President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House," the pro-Trump Save America PAC said in a statement following the confab. "They worked very well together in the last election and picked up at least 15 seats when most predicted it would be the opposite. They will do so again, and the work has already started."

In the weeks since a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, tensions simmered within the party over Trump's place within it moving forward. Amid a second impeachment and backlash against Trump from some Republicans for stoking the violence, rumors swirled that the former president may abandon the GOP to start his own party should he run again in 2024.

But those tensions seem to have abated, at least for now.

In his own statement about the meeting, McCarthy said, "Today, President Trump committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022. A Republican majority will listen to our fellow Americans and solve the challenges facing our nation. Democrats, on the other hand, have only put forward an agenda that divides us — such as impeaching a President who is now a private citizen and destroying blue-collar energy jobs. For the sake of our country, the radical Democrat agenda must be stopped."

"A united conservative movement will strengthen the bonds of our citizens and uphold the freedoms our country was founded on," he added.

McCarthy was one Trump's staunchest allies while he was in office and even backed the ex-president's election challenges. But in the aftermath of the Capitol riot, the relationship showed signs of souring, especially after McCarthy seemed to indicate that Trump bore some responsibility for the attack.

Though with the new meeting, Trump's and McCarthy's partnership appears to be intact. The House minority leader likely realizes that his party's political outlook is improved when it is united with its still most popular figure.

Along those lines, the Save America statement said: "President Trump's popularity has never been stronger than it is today, and his endorsement means more than perhaps any endorsement at any time."