Trump told lawmakers he now believes TPP "might be easier for us to join now" because the 11 other TPP nations are close to finalizing a deal without the US, Sasse told reporters at the White House, as quoted by The Hill.
"The president multiple times reaffirmed in general to all of us and looked right at Larry Kudlow and said, ‘Larry, go get it done,'" Sasse said.
This has been confirmed by hite House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters.
"The President has consistently said he would be open to a substantially better deal, including in his speech in Davos earlier this year," Walters said. "To that end, he has asked Amb. Lighthizer and Director Kudlow to take another look at whether or not a better deal could be negotiated."
Trump railed against the original TPP and other multilateral trade deals throughout the 2016 campaign, arguing that poorly negotiated trade agreements destroyed US jobs.
In January 2017, Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the US from the TPP, prompting 11 other Pacific-Rim nations in the deal to seek their own trade pact.
