Trump may have already lost the Senate. Despite his awkward attempt to make nice with McConnell during their joint press conference Monday, the president remains at odds with Republican Senators John McCain, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski, all of whom served as critical votes against Obamacare repeal, as well as moderates like Jeff Flake and former primary opponents like Marco Rubio. Those tensions broke into the open last week when Senator Bob Corker told The New York Times that the president’s erratic behavior could be a national security risk. Trump dismissed Corker as “a fool,” but privately, many Republicans were said to agree with his assessment. “He is a reasonably powerful member of Congress and he has the respect and affection of the rest of the Republican caucus,” Louis Michael Seidman, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University, told me. “He is not someone like [Ted] Cruz or [Rand] Paul who people think less highly of . . . my understanding is that he has a lot of sway with his colleagues.” He is also one of several senators who could endanger Trump’s presidency should he decide not to defend him. “It is always a good idea not to **** off the chairs of important committees and certainly that all the more so when you anticipate needing something from them in the near future,” Josh Chafetz, a constitutional law professor at Cornell Law School, told me.

-https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/donald-trump-steve-bannon-2018-midterms?mbid=social_facebook