Sen. Bob Corker, the retiring Republican chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, has engaged in a heated back-and-forth with Trump for days now, including in an interview with The New York Times where he said that he feared Trump was steering the nation "on the path to World War III." 
 
 The President, a politician whose mantra has long been to hit back harder than someone hits him, is now treating Corker like he did his primary opponents: By giving him a nickname. 
 
 "The Failing @nytimes set Liddle' Bob Corker up by recording his conversation," Trump tweeted on Tuesday. "Was made to sound a fool, and that's what I am dealing with!" 
 
 "So have at it," Corker told the reporter. "I understand we're on the record. I don't like normally talking to you on the record -- I'm kidding you -- but I will." 
 
 Asked about Corker's comments, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters, "Sen. Corker is certainly entitled to his own opinion, but he's not entitled to his own facts." 
 
 "The facts certainly don't lie, the President has certainly been very successful," she continued. 
 
 Asked if Corker should resign, Sanders said that decision is not for the White House to make. "I think that's a decision for Sen. Corker and the people of Tennessee," Sanders said. 
 
 Trump continued his feud with Corker during a Tuesday meeting with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, pushing back on the senator's statement that Trump is putting the United States on a path toward World War III. 
 
 "We were on the wrong path before. All you have to do is take a look," he said when asked if Corker was right. "Now we're on the right path." 
 
 Trump labeling Corker "liddle" is a throwback to the 2016 campaign, when he gave Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, then a presidential candidate himself, the same moniker. 
 
 "I'm the writer," Trump told New York magazine in 2016. "Let me start with Little Marco. He just looked like Little Marco to me. And it's not Little. It's Liddle. L-I-D-D-L-E. And it's not L-Y-I-N-G Ted Cruz. It's L-Y-I-N apostrophe. Ted's a liar, so that was easy." 
 
 The feud between Corker and Trump had escalated this weekend when the President tweeted that the outgoing senator "begged" for his endorsement before declining to run for re-election. 
 
 "He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said 'NO THANKS.' He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal," Trump tweeted. "Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn't have the guts to run!" 
 
 Todd Womack, Corker's chief of staff, denied the claim later in the day. 
 
 "The President called Senator Corker on Monday afternoon and asked him to reconsider his decision not to seek re-election and reaffirmed that he would have endorsed him, as he has said many times," Womack said in a statement. 
 
 Corker, in the New York Times interview, said that Trump is acting "like he's doing 'The Apprentice' or something," and added that he could set the nation "on the path to World War III." 
 
 The comment comes a week after Corker jabbed Trump, stating that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly "help separate our country from chaos." 
 
 The clash between Corker and Trump highlights fraying relations between the President and the men and women in Congress who the White House needs to deliver on the agenda Trump ran on. Trump has yet to score a signature legislative victory, a black mark on his record given his party controls both the Senate and House. 
 
 Trump said Tuesday that he didn't think his feud with Corker would imperil his tax cut plan. 
 
 "I don't think so. I don't think so at all," he said. "I think we are well on our way." 
 
 Corker's comments have already infuriated Trump's base. Steve Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist who was let go from the White House earlier this year, called on the senator to resign in response. ||||| Republicans woke up Columbus Day morning to the sights and sounds of the wheels coming off their midterm-election bus and their legislative jalopy. First came a widely publicized war of words between President Trump and the prominent Republican senator, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker. Then came a Bloomberg News story by Jennifer Jacobs and Bill Allison laying out Steve Bannon’s intention to back challengers to most of the GOP senators seeking re-election next year. 
 
 The Trump-Corker contretemps began last week when the Tennessee lawmaker, who had been a top contender to be Trump’s running mate as well as secretary of State, took an obvious shot at the president when he told reporters that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly “are those people that help separate our country from chaos.” Corker amplified his criticism on Fox News Sunday, charging that Trump was treating his office like “a reality show,” with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation “on the path to World War III.” 
 
 The tweet wars then began in earnest. Trump fired back that Corker “didn’t have the guts” to run for re-election, and Corker reponded by saying, “It’s a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.” After adding that the former reality television star was “like he’s doing ‘The Apprentice’ or something,” Corker concluded that “he concerns me,” and it should “concern anyone who cares about our nation.” 
 
 In a New York Times interview later Sunday, this in a phone call with Jonathan Martin and Mark Landler, Corker said that “I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it’s a situation of trying to contain him.” Trump fired up his twitter gatling gun and wrote that “Bob Corker gave us the Iran Deal, & that’s about it. We need HealthCare, we need Tax Cuts/Reform, we need people that can get the job done!” 
 
 While Trump has been highly critical of the Republican-led Congress in general, and the Senate Republican leadership in particular, for their failure to repeal and replace Obamacare, his exchange with Corker went to a darker place. Corker did what a lot of Republican leaders have been tempted to do — question the president’s maturity and stability, and speculate how that might affect his performance as commander-in-chief. 
 
 Over the last year Trump has singled out for criticism two endangered GOP incumbents up for re-election this year, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Dean Heller of Nevada. He also has engaged in an on-going feud with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. If Trump is to get anything done legislatively without having to depend on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, he must have the support of Corker, McConnell, Flake, and Heller. The opportunities to align with Schumer and Pelosi are likely to be few and far between. 
 
 Citing three sources “familiar with his plans,” the Bloomberg News article reported that Bannon “plans to support as many as 15 Republican Senate candidates in 2018, including several challengers to incumbents. He’ll support only candidates who agree to two conditions: They will vote against McConnell as majority leader, and they will vote to end senators’ ability to block legislation by filibustering. Bloomberg went on to say that only Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is safe because he’s considered sufficiently conservative and seen to be moving toward the more populist approach Bannon favors. 
 
 Bannon has already scored a victory in Alabama by successfully backing former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore against a Luther Strange, a senator appointed by the GOP establishment. The Bloomberg piece reported that Bannon was targeting incumbents Flake, Heller, Nebraska’s Deb Fischer, Wyoming’s John Barrasso, and Utah’s Orrin Hatch, and the New York Times reported on Sunday that another Bannon favorite, Erik Prince, founder of the controversial security firm Blackwater, was considering a challenge to Barrasso. In the event that Sen. John McCain leaves office early — he is undergoing treatment for a virulent form of brain cancer — Bannon has indicated a preference for Paul Gosar, a state representative and tea party activist. In the race to replace Corker, Bannon intends to support Rep. Marsha Blackburn. 
 
 Almost any conversation with congressional Republicans starts and ends with the need to cut taxes, now that tax reform no longer seems possible. Having failed to pass any legislation of real significance this year, and with a president who carries little weight on Capitol Hill, Republicans desperately need to put some points on the board. They are banking on passing a tax cut that’s meaningful, that voters can see, feel, and touch. If they pass something insufficiently large, the political payoff will be commensurately small. 
 
 With 25 Democratic Senate seats up next year, ten in states Trump carried, five in states the former real estate developer won by 19 points or more, this should be a year for the GOP to expand its current narrow 52-48 majority. Under different circumstances, the GOP could hope to boost their Senate numbers by four to seven seats, perhaps even reaching the magic 60-seat Senate super-majority level that could break filibusters on party line votes. But given their current disarray, Republicans will need to fight hard to gain any new seats, and losing one or two of their own seats would put their majority in jeopardy. 
 
 The stakes are even higher in the House where their majority status is in real danger. The party needs to sublimate its divisions, get mainstream Republicans to the polls, and persuade the Trump base to cast ballot for non-Trump Republicans. That’s a tall order. And it’s why last week’s news reduced the odds of the GOP retaining its majority from a good bet to even money. 
 
 Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously characterized Erik Prince’s political plans. He is considering a run against John Barrasso of Wyoming. ||||| President Donald Trump’s claim that Sen. Bob Corker opted to leave the Senate only after the president refused to endorse him has been repeatedly disputed by the Tennessee Republican’s office. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images Trump and Corker hurl insults as GOP strives for unity The Tennessee Republican offers a prediction: 'I think the debasement of our nation will be what he'll be remembered most for.' 
 
 President Donald Trump and Sen. Bob Corker dramatically escalated their feud on Tuesday, with the president accusing Corker of blocking tax reform efforts and the Tennessee Republican warning Trump that his legacy will be the debasement of America. 
 
 The nasty exchanges came ahead of a Capitol Hill lunch between Trump and GOP senators to project unity on an ambitious legislative agenda. While the two men generally avoided each other at the meeting, the rebukes still hung in the air. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Corker set off the latest tiff, appearing on all three major broadcast morning news shows to needle the president and to call on him to “step aside” on tax reform. 
 
 Trump punched back on Twitter. 
 
 “Bob Corker, who helped President O give us the bad Iran Deal & couldn't get elected dog catcher in Tennessee, is now fighting Tax Cuts,” Trump wrote. “Corker dropped out of the race in Tennesse [sic] when I refused to endorse him, and now is only negative on anything Trump. Look at his record!” 
 
 Corker quickly responded, lamenting on Twitter the "same untruths from an utterly untruthful president. #AlertTheDaycareStaff." Trump’s claim that Corker opted to leave the Senate only after the president refused to endorse him has been disputed repeatedly by the Tennessee Republican’s office. In fact, it was Trump, Corker’s office has said, who asked the senator to reconsider his retirement. 
 
 Sign up here for POLITICO Huddle A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. 
 
 The spat escalated from there, and captured the civil war that is plaguing the Republican Party despite the GOP’s control of both the White House and Congress. Trump has sparred at times with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), among others. 
 
 Flake grabbed his own share of the spotlight on Tuesday, announcing that he would not seek reelection in 2018, and delivering a searing speech on the Senate floor in which he railed against Trump. 
 
 "Reckless, outrageous, and undignified behavior has become excused and countenanced as 'telling it like it is,' when it is actually just reckless, outrageous, and undignified," Flake said. "And when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else: It is dangerous to a democracy." 
 
 "Mr. President, I rise today to say: Enough," Flake added. 
 
 It's yet to be seen, though, if Flake will join Corker, who is also not seeking reelection in 2018, in taking up the mantle of the senator who consistently punches back against the president. 
 
 On NBC’s “Today" on Tuesday morning, Corker said, "The best way for us to have a success" on tax reform is for the legislation to be driven by Congress, not the president, a recommendation he said was "based on recent history and just, interactions." 
 
 The Tennessee Republican also called Trump’s scheduled lunch with Republican senators on Tuesday little more than a “photo op." 
 
 Speaking more broadly about the president in an interview on "CBS This Morning," Corker told anchor Charlie Rose that "it appears to be the governing model of this White House to purposefully divide." 
 
 Corker then notched up his rhetoric even further during an interview on CNN, saying Trump will most be remembered for "the debasement of our nation." 
 
 "At the end of the day, when his term is over, I think the debasing of our nation, the constant non-truth telling, just the name calling, the things — I think the debasement of our nation will be what he'll be remembered most for, and that's regretful," Corker said. 
 
 Asked whether he regrets supporting Trump during last year's election, Corker said, "Let's just put it this way: I would not do that again." 
 
 Trump continued the back-and-forth, asking his Twitter followers, "isn't it sad that lightweight Senator Bob Corker, who couldn't get re-elected in the Great State of Tennessee, will now fight Tax Cuts plus!" 
 
 In another two-post missive, Trump lobbed more criticism, resurrecting a nickname he pinned to the Tennessee Republican weeks earlier: "Sen. Corker is the incompetent head of the Foreign Relations Committee, & look how poorly the U.S. has done. He doesn't have a clue as the entire World WAS laughing and taking advantage of us. People like liddle' Bob Corker have set the U.S. way back. Now we move forward!" 
 
 While the war of words built expectations for a face-to-face clash at Tuesday's lunch, Corker called the meeting "uneventful” and that references to the feud did not come up. 
 
 He said on MSNBC that his earlier back-and-forth with the president was "to express concerns about, you know, the conduct and just what it means to America and Americans and what it means to the world. But I don't really have any agenda other than responding again to shots across the bow." 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, too, downplayed the conflict between Corker and Trump, telling reporters Tuesday afternoon that "I don't have any observation about that.” He predicted that Republicans' top priority, tax reform, would be unifying enough to bridge any fractures within the GOP. 
 
 The anticlimactic lunch meeting belied a morning of rhetoric from the president's Twitter account that was particularly biting. Corker willingly engaged the president, responding in kind with scathing criticism online and in a flurry of TV news interviews. 
 
 While some have feared that Trump's feud with a powerful committee chairman could imperil GOP priorities, including tax reform, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that the spat between the two men would not alter Republican policy efforts. 
 
 "At the end of the day, I know Bob well. Bob is going to vote for Tennessee, he's going to vote for America, he's going to vote for tax reform," Ryan continued at a news conference with House Republican leaders. "So put this Twitter dispute aside," he said. 
 
 The relationship between the two men, which had already been on rocky footing, soured further this month as Corker and Trump have lobbed increasingly barbed criticisms at one another through the media. Amid a separate reported spat between Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in early October, Corker came to the defense of the secretary, telling reporters that Tillerson and other top advisers "help separate the country from chaos." 
 
 Trump replied with a Twitter barrage, launching his claim that the senator had opted to retire only once a presidential endorsement had been taken off the table. Trump also said he had rejected Corker as a possible secretary of state and said the senator was "largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal!” Corker was quick with a sarcastic retort, writing that "it's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning." 
 
 The senator also delivered a scathing review of Trump in an interview with The New York Times, telling the newspaper that the president has behaved “like he’s doing ‘The Apprentice’ or something" and that he could put the U.S. "on the path to World War III." 
 
 Corker said on Tuesday morning that he tried being a helpful force to Trump — with little to show for it. 
 
 "Many of us, me included, have, you know, tried to, you know — I've intervened, I have had private dinner, you know, been with him on multiple occasions to try to create some kind of aspirational approach, if you will, to the way that he conducts himself, but I don't think that that's possible," Corker said. "He's obviously not going to rise to the occasion as president." 
 
 Nolan D. McCaskill and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
– President Trump's feud with Republican Sen. Bob Corker is apparently still on, based on the new nickname the president bestowed upon Corker Tuesday morning. "The Failing @nytimes set Liddle' Bob Corker up by recording his conversation," Trump tweeted. "Was made to sound a fool, and that's what I am dealing with!" Trump was referring to the interview Corker gave to the New York Times in which the senator likened the Trump White House to a "reality show" and suggested that reckless comments from the president could lead to World War III. Developments: Audio, transcript: The Times released excerpts from the interview, as well as audio here. It's not clear what Trump meant in saying that the newspaper set up Corker, but the transcript makes clear that Corker knew he was on the record, notes CNN. He also knew the call was being recorded, telling the reporter that his staff was recording it, "and I hope you are, too." GOP trouble: At the National Journal, political analyst Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report writes that Trump went to a "darker place" in his Corker criticism, and he now thinks the GOP majority is in jeopardy not only in the Senate but in the House. "The party needs to sublimate its divisions, get mainstream Republicans to the polls, and persuade the Trump base to cast ballot for non-Trump Republicans," he writes. "That's a tall order. And it's why last week's news reduced the odds of the GOP retaining its majority from a good bet to even money." Ulterior motives? Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry of the Week calls Corker a hypocrite for his sudden public turn on the president and suggests that the retiring senator is positioning himself to be an "establishment" primary challenger to the president in the 2020 election. Now what? James Fallows at the Atlantic writes that if Corker truly believes Trump might blunder his way into World War III, he has an obligation to "do something about it" by providing a crucial check on Trump's actions through his position as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. "Talk is better than nothing, but action is what counts." WSJ weighs in: The conservative editorial page of the Wall Street Journal thinks Corker spoke the truth about the president's "lack of discipline, short fuse, narcissism and habit of treating even foreign heads of state as if they are Rosie O'Donnell," and it hopes other top Republicans follow Corker's lead because it might actually help. Little reaction: NBC News rounds up reaction from top Republicans to Corker's statements about the president and finds "silence or a shrug." A typical sentiment, from Marco Rubio: "You'll have to ask Sen. Corker what led him to make that statement. I haven't made that statement." Trump's new criticism comes just a week before a Senate vote important to Trump's tax plan, notes the New York Times.