The Trump White House is ratcheting up pressure on Missouri Republicans reluctant to pursue a new map that could give the GOP seven of the state’s eight seats in Congress.

Missouri House Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins of Bowling Green said he received a call Friday afternoon from the White House after staff read his comments published Thursday in The Independent.

“We do redistricting every 10 years,” Perkins said Thursday. “We’ve already done that. To do it again would be out of character with the way Missouri operates.”

During the call Friday, he said, after verifying he was quoted accurately, he was told it was important to President Donald Trump.

“They said ‘well, we’re really going to try to do that’ and that might change the dynamic of it,” Perkins said.

The presumed target for the change is Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, who has held the 5th District seat since 2005 and was re-elected in November with 60% of the vote.