Hakeem Jeffries says he's 'prepared to find common ground' with Trump next year

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Bill Clinton says Trump won 'fair and square' this time

Former President Bill Clinton said, unlike in 2016 in his view, President-elect Donald Trump won the 2024 election 'fair and square.'

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., pledged to try to find agreement with President-elect Trump when the Republican takes power next year.

"Democrats have consistently made clear that we are ready, willing and able, to find bipartisan common ground with the incoming administration on any issue," Jeffries said during his weekly press conference on Wednesday.

One issue he held up in particular was finding bipartisan ways to tackle the cost of living crisis that’s putting a strain on millions of Americans.

He later reasserted that promise when asked by a reporter about how he anticipates navigating a relationship with Trump.

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President-elect Trump and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Getty Images)

"We are prepared to find common ground with the incoming administration on any issue, particularly as it relates to the most decisive ones to emerge from this election, which, in our view, is to deal with the high cost of living," Jeffries said.

"The American people are correct that the deck has been stacked against everyday Americans for decades in ways that undermine the ability for far too many Americans to access the American Dream."

The Democratic leader said he has not spoken with Trump yet since his election but anticipated a conversation "in the next few weeks."

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Speaker Johnson is an ally of Trump. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Jeffries will be among the figures to watch next year as lawmakers navigate another Trump-held Washington. 

He is the only one of the four congressional leaders next year to not have any kind of relationship with Trump. 

His predecessor, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had a famously combative relationship with the president-elect.

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Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi had a combative relationship with Trump. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

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But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., a close ally of Trump’s, will almost certainly need to have buy-in from Jeffries on critical legislation next year. 

With several Republicans expected to leave the House for Trump administration roles, the likely margin for at least the first few months in Congress will be 217-215 – meaning Republicans must vote in lock-step to pass any bills without Democratic support.