The Republicans came to dinner. And from the looks of it, things seemed to go pretty well between a president and an opposition party that don't tend to agree on much of anything.
In an interview with Andrea Mitchell on Thursday, Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker called the bipartisan bread breaking "helpful" and the ensuing discussion "sincere."
"I think it's the way this country ought to operate," Corker said, "and that is the executive branch, sitting down with legislators, talking through issues."
The attendees have been vague about what was talked about specifically. Immigration was discussed briefly but was not a main focus of the policy discussion, Corker said. Instead, the conversation flowed around the economic issues facing the country and a broader discussion of problems and available solutions. Corker called the dinner a "foundation" for the fiscal battles to come.
And he's not alone. Sen. John Hoeven reported that he was "hopeful" that the dialogue initiated at dinner would continue, and Sen. Lindsey Graham wants the reaching out to continue between the White House and the Senate.