WASHINGTON (AFP) - Donald Trump has vented his anger against any number of political opponents on Twitter, but the latest target of US presidential scorn is the top senator in his own Republican Party, Mitch McConnell.
The President took to Twitter on Thursday (Aug 10) to denounce the Senate majority leader's failure to push through a replacement for Barack Obama's health-care law, widely known as Obamacare.
"Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal & Replace for 7 years, couldn't get it done. Must Repeal & Replace ObamaCare!" tweeted the President from his summer retreat at a golf course he owns in New Jersey.
Trump had put overhauling Obamacare at the forefront of his presidential campaign, together with building a wall on the Mexican border.
The Republicans control the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives for the first time since 2006.
But the party's efforts to dismantle a law that they have railed against since its inception in 2010 still ended in a spectacular collapse last month.
Three Republican senators voted with Democrats to doom the draft - a major legislative slap in the face for Trump who, after six months in office, has not won any significant battles on Capitol Hill.
The party is riven by internal ideological divisions, and Trump's own poll numbers are slumping, reducing his ability to sway his own party faithful.
The President's latest outburst was triggered by McConnell's comments that the Republican billionaire lacked experience in office and had set his expectations too high.
"Our new president, of course, has not been in this line of work before," the Kentucky senator said in response to earlier criticism of the failure to scrap Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act.
"I think he had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process," he said.
McConnell may have further irked the President by sniping at his penchant for Twitter.
"I've been and I will be again today, not a fan of tweeting and I've said that to him privately," he said.
"I think it would be helpful if the president would be a little more on message."
Trump shot back on Wednesday, saying, "McConnell said I had 'excessive expectations,' but I don't think so. After 7 years of hearing Repeal & Replace, why not done?"
He then rammed the point home on Thursday, lambasting the veteran Republican playmaker.
When asked about the fraught relationship, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said: "Obviously there's some frustration."
Later on, Trump struck what appeared to be a slightly more conciliatory tone, encouraging McConnell to also work on looming tax reform and other Bills that the President will need the Senate leader's help to push through.
"Mitch, get back to work and put Repeal & Replace, Tax Reform & Cuts and a great Infrastructure Bill on my desk for signing. You can do it!" Trump said in a second tweet about McConnell.
