“I’ll always be your friend,” President Donald Trump told U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik at his post-impeachment trial speech and celebration Thursday.

Speaking at the White House, Trump spoke about being acquitted on two counts of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress by a near-party-line vote in the Senate on Wednesday, and thanked the people who defended him.

One of those people was Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, who played a pivotal role in defending Trump when his impeachment trial reached the House Intelligence Committee, which she sits on. She opposed Democrats’ efforts to bring charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress across multiple weeks of hearings. For that, Trump called her “A new Republican Star.”

Those charges were brought, and when the trial reached the Senate, she was on the White House impeachment defense team. That team was successful.

Trump said he just read a story about her race here in New York’s 21st Congressional District and said it was incredible.

“I was up campaigning for her, helping her, but I thought, ‘She looks good, she looks like good talent,'” Trump said. “But did I not realize that when she opens that mouth, you are killing them, Elise.”

The room filled with laughs and applause and Stefanik rose to wave.

“People from all over the country are contributing to her campaign,” Trump said. “They were so enthralled with the way you handled yourself: what you said, the way you said it.”

That elicited another round of applause.

“What a great future you have,” Trump said. “The First Lady (Melania) agrees, by the way.”