Trump's relationship with Hill Republicans disintegrates in public

President Trump's relationship with Republicans in Congress, brittle to begin with, is disintegrating in public over a deep lack of trust and impatience that has infected both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Trump, frustrated with the pace of business on Capitol Hill, suggested to reporters on Thursday an openness to seeing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., ousted if he can't deliver healthcare reform, an overhaul of the U.S. tax code, and infrastructure spending.

McConnell's allies responded in force, saying the leader has done better than anyone else would have navigating a difficult political environment made even more challenging by a novice president whose bluster and ignorance has complicated Republicans' ability to pass big-ticket legislation.

"The problem for Trump is that there is nobody that is going to challenge Mitch McConnell in the conference," said a Republican operative and Capitol Hill veteran. "Trump has an ‘R' next to his name, but he's not a Republican; there's no loyalty."

Trump's style has been to criticize Congressional Republicans as though he were separate from them, rather than to embrace his role as the leader of the Republican Party and discuss their legislative goals, successes and failures, as shared.