FOREIGN POLICY/GOP/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump’s relationship with the Republican Party, always a marriage of convenience, is showing signs of serious strain. The president threatened his bond with virtually every GOP constituency this past week. His move to withdraw troops from Syria led to the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and left Washington’s Republican foreign policy establishment aghast, drawing unusual criticism from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., normally a Trump ally. Trump’s initial openness to a government funding bill that didn’t include money for his much-heralded border wall with Mexico infuriated conservatives, including the talk radio and cable television personalities who often shower the president with praise. By pushing the government into a partial shutdown with no clear strategy out, Trump frustrated the rest of his party, which was hoping for a holiday break from Trump-driven dramas.”
–Associated Press, “Analysis: Trump, Republicans Flirting With a Political Split,” The New York Times online, December 21, 2018