Republicans brace for September chaos as Trump puts himself before party

Congressional Republicans are bracing for another round of name-calling and criticism from President Trump before returning to Washington next month, fearing his outbursts will complicate their legislative agenda as such behavior becomes a defining feature of his presidency.

Trump took aim at three GOP senators in a torrent of bitter tweets this week. Those tweets left much of Capitol Hill wondering if the Republican president is so preoccupied with protecting his current image that he has forgotten his broader legacy will be defined by what he accomplishes at the end of four or eight years.

"Some Republicans feel Trump is only concerned with building his brand and not the brand of the Republican party," Republican strategist Noelle Nikpour told the Washington Examiner on Thursday, hours after Trump slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for failing to shepherd an Obamacare replacement bill through the upper chamber last month. The next day, Trump warned Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker his home state "is not happy!"

"All the GOP members he continues to trash in public he will eventually need to pass his legislation in the future," Nikpour said.

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, the third Republican lawmaker to be publicly criticized by Trump this week, said the president is "inviting" a 2020 challenge from someone in his own party with his current style of governing and his vitriol on social media.