He is the Republican governor of Wisconsin who was once called “a mess” by Donald Trump.
“Scott Walker is a nice guy but Wisconsin is in turmoil, borrowing to the hilt and doing poorly in jobs,” the now-president previously tweeted. “Massive deficit, bad jobs forecast,” he added later.
Something, it seems, has changed
With the US midterm elections looming in November and Mr Walker’s position up for grabs, Mr Trump once again took to Twitter on Monday – to enthusiastically back the man he once labelled “not smart”.
“Scott Walker of Wisconsin is a tremendous Governor who has done incredible things for that Great State,” he wrote. “He has my complete & total Endorsement! He brought the amazing Foxconn to Wisconsin with its 15,000 Jobs-and so much more. Vote for Scott on Tuesday in the Republican Primary!”
For other presidents, the contradiction may have seemed like an embarrassing climbdown. For Mr Trump – a leader increasingly renowned for his shifting position and apparent changes of heart – it was arguably just another day on social media.
His previous slating of Mr Walker came during the Republican presidential primaries in 2015 after the governor had a brief run at the top job himself. People “won’t be voting for him,” Mr Trump declared.
But the two men’s relationship has apparently improved since.
They have met several times, including at the White House in July, when the president declared Mr Walker was a “favourite of mine”.
That came shortly after the governor was forced to explain how he came to have his photo taken in 2015 with Maria Butina, a woman now accused of being a Russian agent.
"As we go to events, we meet people, they introduce themselves, often they ask for a picture," he told reporters. "And that's not a meeting. A meeting is where you sit down in a room and have a discussion."
