President Trump has three go-to moves for GOP senators who frustrate him: persuade them when he can, ignore them when he must and bully them at will.

Why it matters: The approach doesn't always produce results. But it almost always provides drama.

🥕 Persuade: Trump dispatched two top deputies to the Senate GOP lunch yesterday to make the case, in person, for a third reconciliation bill with elements of the SAVE Act.

• Then he sent in the big guns. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles huddled with the Senate GOP leaders shortly after their lunch.
• When Trump faced a Senate rebuke over the Iran conflict last month, the White House aggressively lobbied wavering Republicans to flip their votes.

Ignore: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche doesn't need Senate confirmation to do the job, Trump declared on Truth Social today.

• He can serve as acting attorney general indefinitely. Problem solved.

🥊 Bully: Trump began the week by demanding that Majority Leader John Thune scrap the filibuster and pass the SAVE Act.

• "Remember, stupidity always brings LOSING & DEATH!" Trump wrote.

👀 What we're watching: Bullying appeared to be Trump's preferred tactic this week. By yesterday, he was openly questioning whether Thune should remain majority leader.

• Thune's best defense was to downplay his own powers.
• 🪄 "He thinks I can wave the magic wand," Thune told Politico. "I wish it were that easy."
• Trump's penchant for bullying has emboldened some senators to stand their ground — such as John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who have blocked Blanche's nomination. Both will be out of the Senate in January.

🔎 Zoom in: Trump's anger with the Senate keeps flaring, despite Thune's success in rapidly confirming his nominees.

• With Jay Clayton's confirmation as director of national intelligence, the GOP-led Senate has confirmed 515 of Trump's nominees — with another batch of 74 on the way.
• 👟 That's a faster pace than the first administration and leaves only a handful of civilian nominations remaining on the Executive Calendar.
• Trump now has the authority to install many of the remaining nominees in acting roles across the federal government.

🌎 Zoom out: With one week left before the August recess, Senate Republican vibes are going from bad to worse.

• New polls show Americans continuing to sour on the GOP.
• The MAGA base is still enraged over the SAVE Act.
• Everything from the NDAA to crypto legislation is hitting roadblocks.

And Trump doesn't appear interested in easing the pressure on his own party.

The bottom line: Trump reserves the right to toggle among his three approaches, depending on his needs and mood.

• And while he can ignore the Senate on some personnel, he can't ignore it on legislation. He still needs 50 votes — or, in some cases, 60.
• "When crazy becomes the norm, it feels pretty routine," one GOP senator told us.

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— Hans Nichols and Stef W. Kight

None of Congress' top four leaders came close to breaking even on their net favorability ratings in a new poll, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lodging by far the most negative reviews.

😡 Why it matters: Schumer could face pressure to step down as leader after the November midterms amid criticism from the party's progressive base.

• 44% of respondents in the CNN/SSRS poll said they held an unfavorable opinion of Schumer, with 15% reporting a favorable opinion.
• In January 2017, it was an even split: 25% of poll respondents had a favorable view of Schumer and 25% an unfavorable one.

🚗 Driving the news: House Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Thune also have seen their unfavorables trend upward in the CNN/SSRS poll.

• While Johnson's net favorability was up five percentage points since March, it's down nine percentage points from January 2025.
• Almost two-thirds of respondents — 63% — said they either had no opinion of or had not heard of Thune, while 52% said the same about Jeffries. That's higher than for Johnson and Schumer.

🤔 The intrigue: Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remains even less popular than the four current leaders.

• More than half of respondents, 53%, said they held an unfavorable view of McConnell, who has been absent from the Senate since mid-June after a fall at his D.C. home. Just 11% reported a favorable view.
• McConnell's lengthy absence and past health scares are fueling speculation about his capacity to serve.

— Kathleen Hunter