The former president is dialing up GOP senators to back their campaigns and talk strategy, weighing how to approach primaries in critical open seats and making sure he leaves an imprint on the midterm elections. Trump’s involvement, revealed in interviews with a dozen GOP senators, shows how far the 50-member conference has come two months after they weighed a clean break with the former president following the insurrection at the Capitol by his supporters…

In reality, the GOP’s worst-case scenario would be running campaign operations at odds with Trump in must-win states across the country next year. With that in mind, Republican senators are making a fresh effort to ensure they and Trump are aligned as much as possible — especially given lingering tensions between the ex-president, their leadership and the seven GOP colleagues who recently voted to convict him at his impeachment trial…

Trump’s even working on incumbent retention. He spoke recently to Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who is undecided on running again next year. Johnson said it would “probably be an accurate statement” that Trump would like to see him run for a third term.