Its leader has no relationship with the former president. But Senate Republicans are peeling off to endorse him on the eve of the Iowa caucus.

Donald Trump is making serious headway with a bloc of the GOP that’s among the most skeptical of his 2024 bid: Republican senators.

In some cases, Trump is breaking through thanks to the sort of personal attention that he’s known to lavish on allies and supporters. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), for example, endorsed home-state Gov. Doug Burgum for president in June — but even before Burgum dropped out of the primary, Trump was already in Hoeven’s ear.

Trump “called me before” to discuss an endorsement, Hoeven recalled in an interview. The Midwesterner said he told the former president Burgum is “‘a close personal friend, he’s from my state, so I endorsed him.’” Then, according to Hoeven, Trump “asked if I’d endorse him, if Doug didn’t continue.”