--- title: Tom Cotton: GOP Should Let Trump Redefine the Party description: Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton doesn't always agree with President Trump, but he says Republicans need to accept Trump's changes to their party canonical: https://time.com/4768574/tom-cotton-arkansas-donald-trump-republicans/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-05T11:43:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T08:30:49.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Tom Cotton: GOP Should Let Trump Redefine the Party og:description: Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton doesn't always agree with President Trump, but he says Republicans need to accept Trump's changes to their party og:url: https://time.com/4768574/tom-cotton-arkansas-donald-trump-republicans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba7ceb8aaa79abd0/6988cc2197cdff733b6b0919/gettyimages-634156752.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Senators Cotton And Perdue Introduce Their Immigration Bill og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tom Cotton: GOP Should Let Trump Redefine the Party twitter:description: Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton doesn't always agree with President Trump, but he says Republicans need to accept Trump's changes to their party twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba7ceb8aaa79abd0/6988cc2197cdff733b6b0919/gettyimages-634156752.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Arkansas Senator: GOP Should Let Trump Redefine the Party > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Tom Cotton says Trump would be a president who “calls the enemy by its name” [Watch (HLS stream): Tom Cotton says Trump would be a president who “calls the enemy by its name”](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VAJeZAwJ.m3u8) (1:09)  _Published 2016-07-19. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton argued that Donald Trump would be a strong commander-in-chief who “calls the enemy by its name” in a prime-time speech at the Republican convention Monday._  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:30 AM UTCPublished: May 5, 2017 11:43 AM UTC  Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) speaks to the media during a news conference on Capitol Hill, February 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) speaks to the media during a news conference on Capitol Hill, February 7, 2017 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:30 AM UTCPublished: May 5, 2017 11:43 AM UTC Arkansas Senator [Tom Cotton](http://time.com/4411613/republican-convention-tom-cotton-speech/?iid=sr-link2) doesn’t always agree with President Trump, but he says Republicans need to accept Trump’s changes to their party. “You have to recognize that our party’s leadership was selling a product that wasn’t that popular,” Cotton [told Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/05/tom-cotton-donald-trump-238015). “Donald Trump won, and he’s the president and everybody needs to accept that,” he continued. He said he’s reflecting on what being a Republican means when Trump won without setting himself apart on the party’s signature issues, like tax reform. “What made him distinctive are issues like immigration, crime, trade, foreign policy and so forth. And the Republican Party as an institution needs to reflect on why he won those primaries and then why he didn’t just beat Hillary Clinton but beat her in places where Republicans had not won for decades,” Cotton said. The young senator, who is often considered a GOP rising star and keeps two Abraham Lincoln books in his office, also explained how he sees Trump fitting into the [historical arc](http://time.com/4766619/donald-trump-andrew-jackson-history/?xid=homepage) of the Republican Party: “In some ways, I think, you could say that Donald Trump is resurrecting some of the tenets of the Republican Party of [Lincoln](http://time.com/4761335/trump-jackson-lincoln-civil-war/?iid=sr-link1) and McKinley and Coolidge.” **Correction:** The original photo caption for this story misstated the abbreviation for the state of Arkansas. It’s AR, not AK. ## Transcript We don't fight because we hate our enemies, but because we love our country. We love its freedom, and we love that we as Americans are born equal and live free, and no one can boss us around or rule us without our consent. We'd like a commander in chief who speaks of winning wars, and not merely ending wars. We'd like a commander in chief who calls the enemy by its name. And we like politicians who treat our common events are the chief responsibility of the federal government, not just another government program. This isn't much to ask for. But eight years without is more than enough and another four years is unthinkable. And a Trump administration and with a Republican Congress, help is on the way. But my generation is fighting so that our children might one day live in peace. And for that cause, I speak tonight not only to Republicans but to the millions of independents and Democrats who share that dream and who wish to make America safe again. Thank you, and God bless you. 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