海角大神

Sen.聽Bob聽Corker聽is a bundle of conflicts and contradictions. Last fall, the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee got into a Twitter war with President Trump. Senator聽Corker聽called the White House an 鈥渁dult day care center.鈥� Mr. Trump dubbed the Tennessee Republican 鈥淟iddle聽Bob聽Corker.鈥�

By January, they had called a truce, and now they talk regularly. Indeed, there鈥檚 much to discuss: North Korea, Iran, Syria, Russia, the nomination of聽聽for secretary of State. So, when I convened a Monitor Breakfast with聽Corker聽on April 18, reporters packed the room at the St. Regis.

But it was聽Corker鈥檚 views on the president himself that intrigued me most. The senator made clear that he and Trump are still getting on just fine.

鈥淚 have a very warm relationship with the president,鈥澛燙orker聽said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 very accessible 鈥� more accessible than any president probably in the history of the world. I mean, he鈥檚 on the phone and available from 6 to 11 in the morning and from聽6:30聽till late at night.鈥�

But, no surprise, there鈥檚 a 鈥渂ut鈥� 鈥� what聽Corker聽calls the 鈥渃onstant chaos,鈥� sometimes born of late-night phone calls from 鈥渦nconventional鈥� advisers who can throw a wrench in just about anything.聽

Bottom line,聽Corker聽is deeply conflicted about this president, and he questions colleagues who aren鈥檛: 鈥淎ny Republican senator who hasn鈥檛 been conflicted over this presidency is either comatose or is pretty useless in their blindness 鈥� and we鈥檝e got some of both.鈥�
Wow.

Corker鈥檚 internal tug of war extends to his own Senate seat. He announced his retirement last fall, then had second thoughts, and then in February decided to retire at the end of the year after all.

Since then, he鈥檚 donated to the Republican seeking to replace him 鈥� the very conservative Rep. Marsha Blackburn 鈥� but that鈥檚 it. What鈥檚 the issue? The Democrat in the race, former Gov. Phil Bredesen, is an old friend, and聽Corker聽refuses to campaign against him. In fact, at our breakfast,聽Corker聽聽over their years of bipartisan collaboration.

I first met聽Corker聽back in 2006, when I traveled to Tennessee to聽聽his spirited race for the Senate against Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr. 鈥� scion of a big African-American political family.聽Corker, a wealthy businessman who had served a term as mayor of Chattanooga, won by a narrow margin.

I remember watching聽Corker聽campaign in a park in Knoxville, and then interviewing him afterward. I thought he had kind eyes. He still does, after nearly 12 years in the Washington pressure cooker.

Back in 2006, I didn鈥檛 envision聽Corker聽as a future Foreign Relations chairman 鈥� or a potential vice president or secretary of State, as Trump had once considered. But聽Corker聽turned himself into a Washington fixture, including now five visits to the Monitor Breakfast.

My colleague Howard LaFranchi also attended聽Wednesday鈥檚 breakfast, and wrote about聽聽on Mr. Pompeo. I wrote a piece on聽Corker鈥檚 decision to聽聽in the Tennessee Senate race.

C-Span videotaped the entire breakfast, which can be viewed聽.

On Thursday, April 26, our breakfast guest will be Kevin Hassett, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Feel free to suggest some questions.