After spending the last year letting the GOP-controlled Congress run his legislative agenda on a party-line basis, President Trump made an unexpected call on Monday morning to a longtime foe — Senator Elizabeth Warren. She says the two talked about housing and capping interest rates on credit cards shortly after she delivered a speech railing against the Democratic Party establishment. 

Ms. Warren is considered a heavyweight within her party’s left-wing faction in Congress, and could launch another bid for the presidency, though she would be 79 by the time the next inauguration takes place. On Monday, she spoke at the National Press Club to deride the corporate interests and billionaires which she says are infecting her party. 

After delivering her remarks, Ms. Warren says she received a call from the president. 

“This morning, I gave a speech noting how Donald Trump is driving up costs for families, sowing terror and chaos in our communities, and abusing his power to prosecute anyone who criticizes him,” Ms. Warren said in a statement on Monday afternoon.

“After my speech, the President called me, and I delivered this same message on affordability to him directly,” Ms. Warren said. She told the president that “Congress can pass legislation to cap credit card rates if he will actually fight for it,” and that he ought to endorse a bipartisan bill to increase America’s housing supply. 

“No more delays. It’s time to deliver relief for American families,” Ms. Warren said Monday. The White House did not immediately respond to the New York Sun’s request for comment about the call. 

Ms. Warren’s remarks to the National Press Club are the clearest indication yet that she plans to chart a more assertive course in shaping the Democratic Party ahead of the midterm elections and into the 2028 cycle, whether she herself is a candidate or not. 

Some in the Democratic Party believe that Senate Democrats need a new leader after some tactical mistakes were made by Senator Chuck Schumer this year. Senators Brian Schatz, Chris Van Hollen, and Chris Murphy have been mentioned as possible leaders, though Ms. Warren could throw her hat into the ring, as well. She currently serves as vice chair of the Democratic caucus, placing her within the inner circle of Senate leadership. 

One of the most eyebrow-raising moments from Ms. Warren’s speech was her decision to go after what is known as the “Abundance Movement” within the Democratic Party. It is a loose collection of liberal, moderate, and conservative Democrats who largely boost ideas set forth in the book “Abundance” by journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. That book argues that Democrats have been too much in favor of burdensome regulations on things like housing, infrastructure, and energy projects. 

Ms. Warren says the book has been co-opted by wealthy donors to her party in order to advance the interests of big business. 

“When this agenda is about making government more effective, count me in,” she told the crowd on Monday. “But ongoing inefficiencies that we cannot seem to fix often exist because powerful people have captured the regulatory process, and they use those regulations to block improvements that would bite into their own profits.”

“Abundance has become a rallying cry — not just for a few policy nerds worried about zoning, but for wealthy donors and other corporate-aligned Democrats who are putting big-time muscle behind making Democrats more favorable to big businesses,” the senator argued.