--- title: Mike Pence to Headline KochBrothers Summit description: After the health care failure, the White House is trying to play nice with conservative groups, like those supported by the Koch brothers. canonical: https://time.com/4886977/koch-brothers-mike-pence-taxes/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-04T09:00:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:27:15.828Z article:section: Politics og:title: Vice President Mike Pence to Headline Koch Summit og:description: The White House tries to play nice with conservative groups. og:url: https://time.com/4886977/koch-brothers-mike-pence-taxes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bb8cefadb9d9a70/6988d86bab6d77802d6af43d/gettyimages-821756702.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence introduces President Trump to make a statement on health care at The White House on July 24, 2017 in Washington, DC. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Vice President Mike Pence to Headline Koch Summit twitter:description: The White House tries to play nice with conservative groups. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bb8cefadb9d9a70/6988d86bab6d77802d6af43d/gettyimages-821756702.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Vice President Mike Pence to Headline Koch Summit > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e8abc872-3fa3-4c51-ae2b-ccfa2fe48cf5&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Why Donald Trump Always Says He's Joking [Watch (HLS stream): Why Donald Trump Always Says He's Joking](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yQmxnCOX.m3u8) (2:39)  _Published 2017-08-03. Donald Trump and His Frequent Joking_  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 4, 2017 9:00 AM UTC Donald Trump and His Frequent Joking  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 4, 2017 9:00 AM UTC After trying to go-it-alone on a [failed](http://time.com/4878591/obamacare-senate-meltdown/) health care repeal, the White House is cozying up to the outside conservative groups that many in the Administration distrust or feel were insufficiently supportive during the 2016 campaign. If President Trump is going to prevail on his other goals, like tax reform, he will need this kind of boost from potential allies. On Friday, the White House plans to announce it is sending Vice President Mike Pence to a major gathering of tea party-minded activists in Richmond, Va., on Aug. 19\. Organized by Americans for Prosperity, the Defending the American Dream confab is one of the largest public-facing events linked to the political and policy network convened by billionaires Charles and David Koch. The conference tends to set the tone for the year among the more than 2 million grassroot activists who push for lower taxes, less regulation and fewer subsidies. The announcement comes on the heels of this week’s summit that brought together Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, White House legislative affairs chief Marc Short and Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips to talk about rewriting the [tax code](http://time.com/4783601/koch-brothers-tax-reform/). With that looming on the fall’s legislative agenda, the White House is trying to do a better job of listening to conservatives’ ideas than it did on [health care](http://time.com/4857372/gop-health-care-plan/), as well as to give the very voters who helped Trump a legislative victory. As it was, the health care [debacle](http://time.com/4835301/senate-health-care-vote-delay-donald-trump-mitch-mcconnell/) split the White House from conservative organizations. Leaders at places like Americans for Prosperity, FreedomWorks and the Heritage Foundation all thought the plans being considered in Congress—and cheered by the President—were insufficient at rolling back the law they call Obamacare. Instead, they wanted an absolute repeal. In the case of the Koch network, officials said they would provide television ads defending lawmakers who voted against the scaled-back repeal measure. In the end, only the House passed any legislation aimed at the health care law. Three Senate Republicans publicly said the measure was too draconian, and others privately were glad to see the proposal fail. Stung by that defeat, Short—a former chief of the Koch flagship group Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce—has sought to build a broader coalition on taxes. One potential land mine: the Koch-backed groups loathe carve-outs in the tax code, and finding a way to address that without spooking the rank-and-file activists will be incredibly difficult. More than six months into Trump’s first term in office, the White House has yet to land a meaningful legislative accomplishment. To turn that tide, the White House needs to leverage the conservative base of the party that was always an uneasy fit for Trump. After all, the New York real estate developer and a mom-and-pop grocery from Indiana didn’t have much in common. The deep-pocketed conservative [donors](http://time.com/4652743/donald-trump-koch-brothers-400-million/), meanwhile, were rightfully [apprehensive](http://time.com/4654523/donald-trump-koch-brothers-worries/) about how Trump would conduct himself as President. Charles and David Koch, especially, were [no fans](http://time.com/4657648/charles-koch-donald-trump/) of Trump or the people around him. Trump returned the favor by [calling](http://time.com/4432073/koch-brothers-donald-trump-invite/) Koch and their buddies puppeteers who pull politicians’ strings for personal enrichment. In the end, the Koch organizations pretended the presidential race wasn’t taking place and instead focused on down-ballot contests. This explains why [Pence](http://time.com/4606111/mike-pence-is-no-ordinary-wingman/), a favorite of the Koch brothers, is a natural bridge between the White House and this conference of small-government activists later this month. It also helps Pence’s political profile should he seek the Presidency on his own terms, as he’s expected to do one day. Pence also has been one of the most valuable voices for the White House when dealing with Congress. A former member of the House Leadership team, Pence has deep relationships with its most conservative members and has done a remarkable job of keeping the daily churn of drama coming from the Oval Office away from his team. Pence dutifully pushed for the failed health care proposal, but it was clear to many Republican lawmakers he was doing so out of deference to the President and not out of any strong belief that the plans being considered were the answer. On taxes, it’s a different story. As Indiana Governor, Pence dramatically cut taxes, including zeroing out inheritance taxes and reducing corporate rates from 7.5% to 4.9%. In his telling, he cut $3.5 billion in taxes. For the conservative activists—and their Koch patrons—that is exactly what they like to hear and what they need to motivate in support of Trump-backed efforts to accomplish similar cuts. ## Transcript [00:00] ISIS is honoring President [00:04] Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. He's the founder [00:08] of ISIS. Donald Trump tells jokes, at least he says he [00:12] does. Some of the things the President calls jokes don't [00:15] sound that way to his critics, and its not always clear [00:17] he meant them as jokes when he said them. So [00:19] Obama's talking about all od this with the global [00:23] warming and the that, a lot of it is a hoax. It's a hoax. I [00:25] mean, it's a money making industry, okay? Where I can [00:28] stand in the middle of the 5ft avenue and shoot [00:30] somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay? It's [00:33] like .>> It's a defense he often used during the 2016 [00:35] campaign when he was in hot water for something he [00:37] said. Border. Well you don't think I was joking, you [00:40] know I was joking. Of course I was joking, and the [00:42] whole room was laughing, and I was laughing when I [00:44] said it. Since Trump moved into the White House, his [00:47] staff has also used it to deflect attention from some of [00:49] his more controversial statements. Was the President [00:51] joking when he said this, or did he check his remarks [00:55] out with The International Association of Police Chiefs [00:58] or maybe the Attorney General? I believe he was [01:01] making a joke at the time. Trey? You know, the way [01:04] you put the hand like don't hit their head [01:08] and they've just killed somebody, don't hit their head. I [01:11] said, you can take the hand away, okay? Russia, if [01:13] you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30, 000 [01:16] emails that are missing. I think you will probably be [01:18] rewarded mightily by the press. How can you accuse [01:22] President Obama of obstructing when he was egging [01:24] Russia on? He was joking at the time. We all know, [01:26] and- He was joking? And- He said that as a candidate [01:29] and he was pressed during that press conference over [01:31] and over again. Russia, if you're listening, I hope [01:35] you're able to find the 30, 000 Emails [01:40] that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded [01:44] mightily by our press. In fact, the Trump administration [01:48] has used the excuse so frequently that they've even [01:50] had to clarify when the President wasn't joking. Can [01:53] you say affirmatively that whenever the President says [01:55] something, we can trust it to be real? If he's not joking, [01:58] of course. I mean, but in that case, hold on, but no, no. [02:01] You're asking, hold on. Okay, no, no, but your point is [02:06] if he's. I mean, he, every time that he speaks [02:08] authoritatively, that he speaks, he's speaking as the [02:10] President of the United States .>> More than 3 million [02:13] Americans voted illegally .>> Yes, and he still believes [02:15] that .>> Was he joking or does he believe [02:16] that ?>> He does believe it. For Trump claiming he [02:19] was only joking is a great way to get out of trouble, [02:21] while also painting his critics out of touch. But the down [02:23] side is, it makes it hard for listeners to tell when he's [02:26] being serious., So I said, the founder [02:31] of ISIS, obviously I'm being sarcastic, then but not that [02:35] sarcastic to be honest with you. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4886977/koch-brothers-mike-pence-taxes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4886977/koch-brothers-mike-pence-taxes/"},"headline":"Vice President Mike Pence to Headline Koch Summit","datePublished":"2017-08-04T09:00:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:27:15.828Z","description":"After the health care failure, the White House is trying to play nice with conservative groups, like those supported by the Koch brothers.","url":"https://time.com/4886977/koch-brothers-mike-pence-taxes/","keywords":["Mike Pence","Congress","White House","Tea Party","Tax Reform","Koch Brothers","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bb8cefadb9d9a70/6988d86bab6d77802d6af43d/gettyimages-821756702.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8bb8cefadb9d9a70/6988d86bab6d77802d6af43d/gettyimages-821756702.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Vice President Mike Pence introduces President Trump to make a statement on health care at The White House on July 24, 2017 in Washington, DC.","caption":"U.S. Vice President Mike Pence introduces President Trump to make a statement on health care at The White House on July 24, 2017 in Washington, DC.","creditText":"Pool—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/mike-pence/","name":"Mike Pence"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4886977/koch-brothers-mike-pence-taxes/","name":"Vice President Mike Pence to Headline Koch Summit"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why Donald Trump Always Says He's Joking","description":"Donald Trump and His Frequent Joking","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yQmxnCOX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-08-03T18:34:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yQmxnCOX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4886977/koch-brothers-mike-pence-taxes/","duration":"PT2M39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4886977/koch-brothers-mike-pence-taxes/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```