Trump keeps calling Thune despite public fight over SAVE America Act

By Fox News · Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: The reports of President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune's dead working relationship have been greatly exaggerated, the South Dakota Republican leader told Fox News Digital. "I've heard from him twice this morning already. He called me over the weekend, and so there, you know, we talk, I don't bother him, I'm not calling him every day," Thune said in an interview. Last week, Trump said, "We're going to find out," whether Thune was the man for the job to lead Senate Republicans, casting doubt on a critical relationship between him and the Senate’s top Republican. TRUMP QUESTIONS THUNE'S LEADERSHIP AS SAVE AMERICA ACT STALLS The tension stems from the SAVE America Act floundering in the Senate, and Trump’s desire to see the election integrity package passed by any means necessary. Thune doesn’t see Trump’s comment as a personal slight, however. Both he and the president "want to get to the same place. We have, sometimes, disagreements about how best to get there." "Most of mine are constrained by what's achievable in an institution like the Senate that has procedural roadblocks to do almost anything," Thune said. "We have those candid conversations, but I'm not worried about that relationship," he continued. "I know he's going to push as hard as he can. That's his business model, is to just keep pushing, pushing, pushing to get people to go as far as they can go." SENATE FACES 'COME-TO-JESUS' MOMENT ON TRUMP'S ELECTION PRIORITY UNDER GOP'S NEW PLAN There is a voracious appetite among Trump, Senate Republicans and their base to see the SAVE America Act passed. One that Thune hears everyday, either online or within his own conference. It’s dominated the oxygen inside the Capitol and beyond its walls, and the pressure comes as the Senate is sprinting to finish work on key items, like preventing a government shutdown and confirming dozens of Trump’s nominees. "There are good days and bad days," Thune said. "And around here, probably latel…