Vice President Pence meets with billionaire Charles Koch

Fredreka Schouten , USA TODAY Published 12:59 a.m. ET June 24, 2017 | Updated 16 hours ago

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Vice President Pence and several of his top aides met Friday night with billionaire Charles Koch, another sign of the influential donor's increasing willingness to work with the Trump administration to advance his free-market ideas.

Pence, who has longstanding ties to Koch's political and policy empire, met with the Kansas industrialist for about 50 minutes and discussed a "range of policies that will benefit the country," including repealing the Affordable Care Act, overhauling the tax system and a law signed Friday by Trump that makes it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire problem employees, said James Davis, a spokesman for the Koch organizations.

Koch, whose network rivals the Republican Party's size and budget, did not support President Trump's candidacy, and Trump publicly mocked his rivals who sought to win favor with Koch and his brother, David Koch. But in recent months, the Kochs have committed more resources to backing Trump's agenda, including a multimillion-dollar campaign to help push Trump's tax cuts through the GOP-controlled Congress.

"We're going to work with them where we can to advance good policy," Davis said of the Trump administration.

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