McCain becomes critic in chief of the Trump administration

For a senator who supports free trade, backs NATO, remains deeply suspicious of Russian intentions and has favored an assertive foreign policy, including the war in Iraq, the differences with Mr. Trump have been profound.

“The principles that Senator McCain has espoused have animated American foreign policy for decades,” said Richard Fontaine, a former foreign policy adviser to Mr. McCain who currently serves as president of the Center for a New American Security, a policy research center. “It’s the political context in Washington that has changed.”

But there seems to be a personal element, too, particularly on the part of Mr. Trump. The tensions go back to the Republican primaries, when Mr. Trump offered a belittling rejoinder to Mr. McCain’s remark that the candidate’s immigration policies had attracted “crazies.”…

All this blunt talk has not come without some pushback. This month, Mr. Trump blasted Mr. McCain for his criticism of a risky Special Operations raid in Yemen in which a Navy SEAL was killed. “He’s been losing so long he doesn’t know how to win anymore,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter.