UPDATE: President Donald Trump says he doesn't believe his ongoing feud with U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., will harm his efforts to get a federal tax code overhaul through the Senate where Republicans hold a slender two-seat majority.
"I don't think so. I don't think so at all," Trump told White House reporters today, according to an account in The Hill. "I think we're well on our way. The people of this country want tax cuts, they want lower taxes."
Trump and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Corker have sparred in recent days in increasingly personal tweets and public remarks.
Trump bashed Corker on Twitter Sunday, claiming he didn't have the "guts" to run for re-election. Corker struck back and said the White House had become an "adult day care center" and someone had missed their shift.
The Tennessean later told The New York Times Trump was handling the presidency like a "reality show" with regard to North Korea, which Corker warned could put the nation "on the path to World War III."
The Failing @nytimes set Liddle' Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. Was made to sound a fool, and that's what I am dealing with!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2017
Today, Trump referred to the senator on Twitter as "Liddle Corker," an apparent slam on Corker, who stands about five feet, six inches.
With just 52 Republican senators in the 100-member Senate, it's unclear how much risk Trump is running on the increasingly rancorous feud impacts Trump and GOP lawmakers' tax overhaul.
Senate leaders can afford no more than two GOP lawmakers voting no on any bill. If the vote were 50-50, Vice President Mike Pence could break the tie.
Corker, a self-described deficit hawk, has previously said he won't support a tax deal that adds to the federal deficit.
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ORIGINAL STORY: Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, said today he'd like President Donald Trump and Republican U.S. Senate Bob Corker to end their public feuding and "come together on tax reform."
"I truly hope that President Donald J. Trump and Senator Bob Corker can put their differences behind them and come together on tax reform," McNally said on Facebook. "It is too important."
McNally, who is the state Senate speaker, said the country needs a "tax code that is simple and fair" because the current setup isn't and has "for too long benefited the wealthy and the well-connected who can hire accountants and lobbyists to shift their tax burden to hardworking taxpayers."
"Hardworking Tennesseans need a tax cut," said McNally, a former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. "Most importantly, we need to end the system that encourages companies to move overseas."
McNally called it "time to bring the promise of the Trump campaign into reality. And we need both President Trump and Senator Corker to do it."
Trump this morning again lashed out on Twitter at Corker of Tennessee, referring to the Foreign Relations Committee chairman as "Liddell Bob Corker" and charging Corker came off as a "fool" in an interview with The New York Times.
"The Failing @nytimes set Liddell Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. Was made to sound like a fool, and that's what I'm dealing with!" the president tweeted.
The tweet marks the latest in an escalating tussle in which Corker has questioned Trump's competency and stability.
Trump charged Sunday that Corker, who announced last month he wouldn't seek re-election, was afraid he would lose and "begged" the president for his support.
Corker fired back Sunday morning, calling the White House an "adult day care center" with evidently no one on duty. The senator's chief of staff said that despite the president's statement about Corker pleading with Trump to back him for a third term, Trump actually has asked Corker to run again.
In an interview with The New York Times later Sunday, Corker said Trump was turning the nation into a personal "reality show" and warned his rhetoric could set the U.S. "on the path to World War III."
Corker, who has alternately praised and sometimes criticized the president, told Rotary Club of Chattanooga members in August that the president had "yet" to demonstrate the necessary "stability" and "confidence" in office, and he added Trump needed to do so for the sake of the country.