POLITICAL FIGURES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Donald Trump is going all out to persuade seven-term Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch to seek reelection — a push aimed in no small part at keeping the president’s longtime nemesis, Mitt Romney, out of the Senate.
Romney has been preparing to run for Hatch’s seat on the long-held assumption that the 83-year-old would retire. Yet Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, is now refusing to rule out another campaign — a circumstance Romney’s infuriated inner circle blames squarely on the president. Their suspicions are warranted: Trump has sounded off to friends about how he doesn’t like the idea of a Senator Romney.
The president’s mostly behind-the-scenes campaign to sway Hatch will burst into public view on Monday [12-4-17], when he arrives in Salt Lake City to hold a well-choreographed event designed to showcase his affection for the powerful Senate Finance Committee chairman.”
-Alex Isenstadt, “Trump moves to block Romney from the Senate,” Politico, Dec. 3, 2017 08:23pm