Seven years after they last spoke to him, MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski traveled to Mar-a-Lago this weekend to meet President-elect Donald Trump.

The duo, who were formerly friends with Trump, turned into fierce critics during his first term, and he returned the favor, occasionally criticizing them in posts on X (formerly Twitter). At the top of Monday’s programme, they announced their journey, acknowledging that his decisive victory influenced their decision.

“Joe and I realized it’s time to do something different and that starts with not just talking about Donald Trump, but talking to him,” Brzezinski said. “To those who ask why we would talk to the President-elect in such difficult times, especially between us, I would ask back: why wouldn’t we? Five years of political warfare has deeply divided Washington and the country.”

The pair said Trump was optimistic during their meeting, noting that the only contact they have had in recent years was a phone call Scarborough made the day after the assassination attempt over the summer.

As for what they discussed: “We talked about many issues, including abortion, mass deportation, threats of political retaliation against political opponents and media outlets,” Scarborough said. “We had a good discussion about that. It will come as no surprise to anyone who watches this show, who has watched it in the last year or in the last decade, that we disagreed on many issues and we told him so.”

“What we did agree on was resuming communication,” Brzezinski added. “My father (former National Security Advisor Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski) often spoke with world leaders with whom he and the United States deeply disagreed. That is a task that both journalists and commentators share.”

“I’ll tell you a lot of Democratic leaders we’ve talked to in the last week since the election who have said to Mika and I, it’s time for a new approach,” Scarborough added.