In Philly, Trump tells congressional leaders: 'Now we have to deliver'

The possibility and the protests surrounding President Trump's new administration came to Philadelphia on Thursday.

In his first visit outside Washington since taking office, Trump promised Republican lawmakers that he would keep them busier than ever, signing their bills and enacting his plans for an "hour of justice" for the American worker.

"Now we have to deliver," Trump told congressional Republicans gathered at the Loews hotel in Center City. "Enough 'all talk, no action.' This is our chance to achieve lasting change for our beloved nation."

Trump used his speech at the second day of the GOP strategy retreat to outline aggressively conservative priorities, describing his vision of a border wall with Mexico, better trade deals, tax reform, a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, a revival for coal, massive infrastructure projects, and an empowered military.

"This Congress is going to be the busiest Congress we've had in decades, maybe ever," Trump said. Turning to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), he added, "We're actually going to sign the stuff that you're writing."

Protesters hoping to stop that agenda clogged the Center City streets before, during, and after his roughly two-hour visit, chanting, marching — but not disrupting — a president now leading a country deeply divided. Inside the building, a friendly audience of House and Senate members, their spouses, and aides gave Trump seven standing ovations during his roughly 24-minute speech.

Trump and protesters in Philly: Click here for live blog recap.

The address was the highlight of a day that included remarks by Vice President Pence and British Prime Minster Theresa May, as well as behind-the-scenes strategizing by party leaders who for the first time in years control both Congress and the White House.

While many Republicans are still uneasy with Trump's scattershot style, conspiracy theories, and some of his policies — there was silence when he talked about big spending on infrastructure — most have tried to gloss over those differences in the name of advancing goals that were stymied under President Barack Obama.

The possibilities, though, mean Republican lawmakers are now grappling with the details of their shared goals, struggling to spell out the specifics of how to pass complex bills that can hold their fractious coalition together.

Trump offered few details to fill out his sweeping vision. Much of his address rehashed the themes he struck in his inaugural address last week, and he continued to spend time reveling in his November victory, recounting how no one gave him a chance in Pennsylvania, only for him to shock political prognosticators.

"It was just a great victory," Trump declared.

And in keeping with much of his first week, Trump's messages continued to overlap and overshadow all else.

A day after setting in motion his plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump shrugged off the Mexican president's decision to cancel a scheduled meeting of the two leaders and again vowed that the neighboring country would pay for the barrier.  His spokesman, Sean Spicer, later said that Trump intends to seek a 20 percent tax on all imports from Mexico to fund the construction, but then said that was just "one idea."

In her own speech to Republicans, May urged a renewal of the "special relationship" between the United States and the United Kingdom. As both countries navigate upheaval, and she prepares to negotiate with a president who is skeptical of foreign trade and international military engagement, she called on American leaders to sustain the economic and defense bonds that have long tied the countries together.

May is scheduled to meet with Trump on Friday in Washington in the president's first sit-down with a foreign leader.

Republicans at the retreat said their top policy priorities were clear: quickly rolling back Obama's signature health law and overhauling the federal tax code.

Trying to stay focused on those aims, Ryan played down questions about whether Trump had left the Republican Congress off balance with the rapid-fire start to his term -- including a flurry of executive orders that lawmakers had little, if any, chance to review and fuzzy proposals pitched on Twitter that have dominated attention.

"We are on the same page as the White House," Ryan told reporters earlier Thursday. But, he added, "this is going to be an unconventional presidency," and everyone has to get used to it.

There isn't total acceptance.

Sen. John McCain delivered an impassioned rebuke to Trump's signal this week that he might support reinstating torture on terror suspects. In an interview with ABC on Wednesday, Trump proclaimed that "torture works."

McCain, who was held as a prisoner of war and tortured in North Vietnam, forcefully disagreed.

"Torture takes away the most important aspect of the United States of America — we are a moral nation, we are not like other countries, we don't torture people," he told a handful of reporters in Center City.

McCain said he would not react to every new controversy involving the new president, but will speak out on certain topics: "When he brings up this issue of torture again, I have to speak up ...  because of my own personal experience, because of everything that I've seen."

Another GOP legislator, Rep. Tom MacArthur, acknowledged that Trump did not break much new ground in his speech -- but said that was a good thing.

"By repeating over and over his agenda, he's making it clear that these are indeed his priorities," said MacArthur, of South Jersey. "He was putting markers down."

MacArthur was one of nine House Republicans to vote against the initial Affordable Care Act repeal steps because he said he feared the GOP had not done enough to lay out a replacement to ensure people do not lose their coverage. On that front, MacArthur said he and his colleagues have a lot of work left to do, even after their time in Philadelphia.

"The most pressing issue is the repair of Obamacare, and, as you might expect, that's where we probably spent the most time and had the most lively discussions," MacArthur said.