A report from Politico claims that Donald Trump is tired of people in his orbit tiptoeing off to pursue their own political agendas – especially when those agendas do not align with his.
Among those who Mr Trump is upset with is his own son's girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, according to the report.
Aides to the former president apparently told Politico that Mr Trump has been complaining about Ms Guilfoyle joining the campaign of Eric Greitens, who is running for Senate in Missouri. She is serving as his "national campaign chair."
The aides claim that Mr Trump is no fan of Mr Greitens, calling him "problematic," and that he also finds Donald Trump Jr's girlfriend "annoying."
"Why the f*** is she working for him?" Mr Trump reportedly said.
The advisers said Mr Trump would not back Mr Greitens if the primary were held today due to allegations that he beat, sexually assaulted and blackmailed a St Louis hairdresser in 2015. Those allegations forced him to retire as governor of Missouri three years ago.
Mr Trump is said to be seeking other candidates to back for the seat.
According to the aides, Mr Trump has some concerns that Ms Guilfoyle's association with Mr Greitens will appear to be an implicit endorsement from the former president.
Ms Guilfoyle responded to the story by denying there was any bad blood between her and the former president.
Mr Trump is fully aware of how much weight his endorsements carry, and has been protective of who gets his stamp of approval as a result.
The former president's spokesman, Jason Miller, has been targeting Republican candidates who are falsely claiming – intentionally or not – that they have Mr Trump's endorsement and telling their supporters that no such support exists.
Mr Miller sent The Hill an email discussing his efforts to thwart Republicans trying to dupe voters into thinking they have Mr Trump's backing, saying "don't fake the endorsement if you don't have it!"
In one instance, Pennsylvania state Senator Doug Mastriano was chastised by the Trump campaign after saying the former president "asked" him to run for governor.
Mr Miller took to Twitter to clarify that "President Trump has not made any endorsement or commitments yet in this race."
In another instance, former professional wrestler-turned-politician Dan Rodimer branded himself as "the Trump candidate" in campaign ads, and claimed that he was the "only" one "that has ever been endorsed by President Trump." Mr Rodimer was running for the 6th Congressional district seat in Texas when his campaign made the claims.
Mr Miller again shot them down on Twitter.
