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McCain emerges as Trump’s top Republican nemesis in Congress

In this Jan. 26, 2017, photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., right, read the Wall Street Journal newspaper as they wait for President Donald Trump to speak at the House and Senate GOP lawmakers at the annual policy retreat in Philadelphia. McCain has emerged as Trump’s top Republican nemesis on Capitol Hill. Since Trump’s inauguration, McCain has broken with the president on his immigration order, warned him against any rapprochement with Moscow and lectured him on the illegality of torture. He supplied only a tepid endorsement of Rex Tillerson, Trump’s secretary of state nominee. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
In this Jan. 26, 2017, photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., right, read the Wall Street Journal newspaper as they wait for President Donald Trump to speak at the House and Senate GOP lawmakers at the annual policy retreat in Philadelphia. McCain has emerged as Trump’s top Republican nemesis on Capitol Hill. Since Trump’s inauguration, McCain has broken with the president on his immigration order, warned him against any rapprochement with Moscow and lectured him on the illegality of torture. He supplied only a tepid endorsement of Rex Tillerson, Trump’s secretary of state nominee. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) In this Jan. 26, 2017, photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., right, read the Wall Street Journal newspaper as they wait for President Donald Trump to speak at the House and Senate GOP lawmakers at the annual policy retreat in Philadelphia. McCain has emerged as Trump’s top Republican nemesis on Capitol Hill. Since Trump’s inauguration, McCain has broken with the president on his immigration order, warned him against any rapprochement with Moscow and lectured him on the illegality of torture. He supplied only a tepid endorsement of Rex Tillerson, Trump’s secretary of state nominee. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

By Associated Press 10 min read

President Trump’s first 100 days

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sen. John McCain has emerged as President Donald Trump’s top Republican nemesis on Capitol Hill.

Since Trump’s inauguration, McCain has broken with the president on his immigration order, warned him against any rapprochement with Moscow, lectured him on the illegality of torture, and supplied only a tepid endorsement of Rex Tillerson, Trump’s secretary of state nominee.

Oh, and McCain also hammered Trump for backing away from – instead of embracing – international free trade agreements.

As Trump presses ahead with an ambitious and contentious agenda at home and abroad, McCain is pushing back, using his seniority in Congress and his characteristic bluntness. McCain, 80, cruised to a sixth Senate term in November, defeating a Democratic challenger who hounded the senator for standing by Trump even after the billionaire businessman insulted him as a “loser.”

Trump, who received several draft deferments during the Vietnam era, also said there was nothing heroic about McCain’s military record after he was shot down during the Vietnam War and spent 5 years as a prisoner of war.