Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker wants to take back his retirement announcement, but there’s a problem: his retirement announcement came with some sharp criticism of Donald Trump, and there’s a Trump ally already running in the Republican primary to replace him. How does Corker get back in Trump’s good graces after saying Trump was putting the U.S. “on the path to World War III” and called the White House “an adult day care center”? A Washington Post-reported version of the story pretty obviously sourced to Corker’s people argues that it’s no big thing:

… in recent days the two men have reconnected, warming their long-chilly and acrimonious relationship as Corker has moved closer to shelving his retirement plans and launching a late reelection bid.

Corker has had several conversations with the president in which the possibility of a 2018 campaign has been broached, according to five Republicans who were not authorized to comment on the discussions.

Corker also has been cultivating his bonds with the Trump family and top White House staffers, they added — and Monday he met with Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser, for coffee.

But the New York Times makes it sound like Corker’s going to have to crawl:

… in a telephone conversation last week, Mr. Trump offered encouragement to Representative Marsha Blackburn, a conservative lawmaker and White House ally who has emerged as the favorite to win the Republican nomination for Mr. Corker’s seat, according to three Republicans familiar with the call.

Mr. Trump’s West Wing advisers, their memories still fresh from Mr. Corker’s jibes, are urging the president to resist entreaties from the senator and a handful of his colleagues who worry that the seat could slip from Republican hands in November. They are showing Mr. Trump polling that indicates how steep of a climb Mr. Corker would face in a primary campaign. […]

Further, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, has rebuffed Mr. Corker by telling him that he must secure the president’s support to re-enter the race, according to Republicans familiar with the conversation, a rare act of political deference that suggests he is uneasy about driving Ms. Blackburn out of the primary race.

Corker may succeed and he may not, but one thing’s for sure: having sold his tax bill vote for a kickback, he’s going to have to sell his dignity, if not his soul, to Trump to go into a primary against Blackburn with any shot at all.

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