President Trump “will visit North Dakota on June 27 to campaign with GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer, a trip that could go a long way toward extinguishing tensions between the White House and the Senate hopeful,” Politico reports.

“Trump’s planned trip to Fargo, which the candidate announced on Friday on Twitter, came after Cramer took the unusual step of publicly attacking the administration for its seemingly warm treatment of his Democratic opponent, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.”

President Trump “is aggressively campaigning for Republican Senate candidates around the country and belittling their Democratic ­rivals, with one notable exception — North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND),” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump’s affinity for Heitkamp, who got a shout-out and a handshake at a recent White House bill signing, has frustrated top Republicans who see winning her Democratic seat as crucial to holding onto their fragile 51-to-49 majority. No one has felt it more acutely than GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer, whom Trump personally recruited to run against Heitkamp.”

“Upset, Cramer contacted White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly to appeal for political help and traded warning shots with Trump’s legislative affairs director, Marc Short.”

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) reversed course and told reporters that he is running for U.S. Senate against Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), the Bismarck Tribune reports.

North Dakota U.S. Senate candidate Gary Emineth (R) says he’s quitting the race because he expects Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) to challenge Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp after all, the AP reports.

Emineth said he’s talked with Cramer several times in the past week and expects him to enter the race.

“Top Republicans are pleading with Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) to reconsider his decision to spurn the U.S. Senate race in North Dakota, fearing the party is on track to blow a prime pickup opportunity,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“White House officials and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) are making another run at Cramer after internal opposition research on state Sen. Tom Campbell, the leading Republican to run in his place, turned up troubling information they worry could be a treasure trove for Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.”

North Dakota U.S. Senate candidate Gary Emineth (R) defended in a radio interview sharing an image on Twitter that said no more mosques should be built in the United States.

Said Emineth: “So I just made a statement, I’m a Christian that believes we ought to propagate our Christian faith. So I see an article and I retweet, ‘no more mosques in America,’ you know, and like, and share. So I retweeted it. So yeah. So what? I believe in Christian — I believe in liberties, freedom, free speech, and Christian values is kind of my base. And so yeah, I posted it, so no big deal. I’m not that stressed out over it.”

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced that he will not run for the U.S. Senate, dealing a blow to Senate Republicans and President Trump, the Washington Post reports.

“Cramer, who has been a staunch supporter of Trump dating back to the 2016 presidential campaign and has a higher profile than most Republicans in his state… Trump extensively courted Cramer for the race, even calling his wife and asking him to get in the race.”

“In North Dakota, where Donald Trump won in a landslide last year, Republicans’ lone Senate candidate is a little-known state lawmaker — and potato farmer — from a remote town closer to the Canadian border than the state capital,” the AP reports.

“While established Republicans and business leaders in other states Trump carried are running to topple Democratic senators, the GOP is struggling to land a big name in North Dakota to run against Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in 2018.”