Donald Trump declares war on Republican senate minority leader Mitch McConnell

"If Republican senators are going to stay with him, they will not win again", Mr Trump said on Tuesday.

Trump also warned that said he would back Republicans in congressional primaries where "necessary and appropriate", amid reports that McConnell would encourage moderates outside Trump's cuckoo brigade of conspiracy theorists and extremists.

The clash between the current and former GOP leaders comes as the Republican Party at large grapples with warring factions at odds over whether to continue in Trump's likeness or forge a path veering from the former President's legacy. Chao, who was born in Taiwan to a wealthy shipping family, served as the transportation secretary in the Trump cabinet, till she resigned after the January 6 mob attack. Trump responded in agreement.

While speaking with Fox News hosts Harris Faulkner and Bill Hemmer about the passing of conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday, Trump answered questions about the late radio personality's take on the 2020 United States presidential election, once again insisting that he had "won" on November 3.

Minutes after the Senate voted Saturday, the Senate's longest-serving Republican leader said Trump's actions surrounding the attack on Congress were "a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty".

McConnell has repeatedly rebuked Trump's incitement of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, though he voted to acquit the former President of the charge.

"He didn't get away with anything yet", McConnell said. And he expressed surprise and mild bemusement at the hatchet-burying mission made to Mr Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Florida, by Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader.

Trump asserted Tuesday that McConnell's shortcomings had contributed to the party's loss of the Senate majority and alluded to his baseless claims of election fraud.

But if Mr McConnell was not eager to begin an open and protracted feud with Mr Trump, at least not yet, the freshly acquitted, ever-pugnacious and newly de-platformed former president was happy to do so.

One person close to Mr Trump said his initial version of the statement was more incendiary than what was released publicly.

"My only regret is that McConnell "begged" for my strong support and endorsement before the great people of Kentucky in the 2020 election, and I gave it to him", Mr Trump said.

Trump's statement Tuesday adds McConnell to the list of Republicans whom the former President is targeting after they opposed him.

He added: "We know our America First agenda is a victor, not McConnell's Beltway First agenda or Biden's America Last".