Trump to host lawmakers for screening of Churchill film ‘Darkest Hour’

President Trump has invited a group of lawmakers to the White House on Monday night for a screening of a new movie about Winston Churchill. 

Members of Congress are expected to arrive at 8 p.m. to watch the critically acclaimed film “Darkest Hour” with Trump, according to a White House official. Aides did not provide a list of expected attendees. 

The screening is a chance for the president to make a last-minute pitch to lawmakers for the Republican tax bill ahead of votes in the House and Senate this week. 

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Trump likely will not have to do a ton of arm twisting; GOP leaders believe they have the votes to pass the legislation.

But the bill is at the top of the White House’s priority list. Its passage would mark Trump’s first major legislative achievement. 

“Darkest Hour” tells the story of Churchill’s early days in power, when he grappled with how to lead Great Britain in confronting Nazi leader Adolph Hitler. 

Trump has cast himself as an admirer of the late British prime minister.

On his first day as president, Trump reinstalled a bust of Churchill in the Oval Office. 

Former President Obama sparked conservative ire in 2009 when he moved the bust from the office to the White House residence. 

Director Joe Wright, however, has said “Darkest Hour” is a rebuke to Trump’s style of leadership. 

“There’s a big question in America at the moment: what does good leadership look like,” Wright recently told reporters. “Churchill resisted when it mattered most, and as I travel around America, I am really impressed and optimistic at the level of resistance happening in the U.S. at the moment.”