President Trump has endorsed 95 percent of the 217-member House GOP Conference and backed candidates in nearly two-thirds of Senate races — more primary interventions than any president in recorded history, per Axios.

The play is straightforward: starve contested primaries of oxygen before they drain party money and produce nominees nobody can defend in November. Republican operatives say if the GOP defies structural headwinds and holds Congress this fall, this operation is a core reason why.

This is what party consolidation looks like when it runs through one person's endorsement queue rather than any institutional structure. The Republican Party no longer has a bench — it has a clearance list.