Lind­sey Gra­ham strug­gles to shape Trump agen­da despite fierce loy­al­ty

Sen. Lind­sey Gra­ham (R‑SC) has suf­fered a series of indig­ni­ties to get in Don­ald Trump’s good graces. In fact, his trans­for­ma­tion from unapolo­getic crit­ic to sharp-elbowed boost­er of the for­mer pres­i­dent is one of the most dra­mat­ic in Amer­i­can pol­i­tics.
Yet a Mon­day spat between the two, in which Trump laid into the sen­a­tor for “respect­ful­ly” dis­agree­ing with his deci­sion to oppose a fed­er­al abor­tion ban, put into sharp relief a tru­ism in the age of Trump: Loy­al­ty is a one-way street.
Gra­ham, who once called Trump “a race-bait­ing, xeno­pho­bic reli­gious big­ot,” rein­vent­ed him­self into a close ally after he became pres­i­dent. He was among the first high-pro­file Repub­li­cans to endorse his 2024 cam­paign and has used the crim­i­nal indict­ments against Trump to make impas­sioned fundrais­ing pleas on cable TV.
The alle­giance has giv­en Gra­ham a unique opp …