Trump plans aggressive midterm involvement, as Republicans urge him to stick to the script

In early January, weeks after Republican Roy Moore suffered a historic defeat in Alabama’s Senate election, President Trump made a calculated decision to align himself with the GOP establishment — just until the midterm elections are over.

The president told Republicans during a party retreat at Camp David that he would lend his support exclusively to incumbent GOP lawmakers and “anybody else that has my kind of thinking,” promising them his days of propping up insurgent challengers were over.

Two sources close to the White House said Trump has no plans to deviate from that pledge, fearing the damage he would do to his relationships with congressional GOP leaders, which improved almost immediately following the president’s very public falling-out with former Breitbart chairman Steve Bannon.

“Things are easier when you’re in good standing with [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell and [House Speaker Paul] Ryan, and he’s just now starting to understand that,” one of the sources said.

Trump worked closely with Ryan and McConnell in the weeks leading up to passage of their landmark tax reform bill last December, a massive legislative accomplishment that has already lined the pockets of American workers with reform-fueled bonuses, wage hikes, and domestic investments.