President Donald Trump phoned into a private Indiana Senate Republican caucus meeting Friday, pressing reluctant Hoosier lawmakers to undertake mid-cycle redistricting, according to two people briefed on the call who were granted anonymity to discuss the private conversation.
The call — which was Trump’s first-known call with rank-and-file Indiana state lawmakers on the matter following an August Oval Office meeting with state House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray — punctuated an intense period of national lobbying on redistricting.
It follows a new push by late MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point Action this week to ramp up pressure on Indiana lawmakers who oppose mid-cycle redistricting. The New York Times first reported details of the call.
Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a close White House ally, has warned that control of the House of Representatives could ride on whether the state can produce additional Republican-held congressional districts by reopening the maps.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun is supportive of calling a special session to do so, likely next month, but has not wanted to strong-arm the legislature into convening in Indianapolis.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The call also comes on the heels of Vice President JD Vance’s second visit to the Hoosier State to make the case to lawmakers last week. Allies of the White House’s efforts described that meeting as productive but not “a slam dunk.”
The Indiana Conservation Voters, a liberal environmental-focused group, has put six figures behind television ads opposing mid-cycle redistricting and set to play this weekend during this weekend’s Colts, Indiana University and Notre Dame games.
