Senate's Most Powerful Leader Doubts Trump Can Salvage Presidency: NYT

WASHINGTON, DC — In a detailed and thorough account of the growing rift between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the president, reporters Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin of The New York Times report that the Kentucky lawmaker has privately doubted that Donald Trump can "salvage" the rest of his presidency.

Trump and McConnell found themselves in a tense standoff after the Senate failed to pass any version of health care reform in late July. According to the Times, the president and the Senate majority leader, who had been widely regarded as a master of legislative maneuvering, haven't spoken for weeks after that party's failure to move forward with its singular promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. Trump has repeatedly disparaged McConnell's ability to do his job, while McConnell said that Trump lacks a full understanding of the process of governing. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Though McConnell has been relatively reserved in his public criticism of the president, the Times reports that he is "bewildered" about the direction of the presidency and has questioned Trump's standing to lead Republicans to victory in the 2018 midterm elections. The report also found that McConnell "expressed horror" over Trump's response to the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which the president said had good people on both sides.

Read the full story at the New York Times>>

Photo by Bill Clark-Pool/Getty Images