Trump endorses Alaska governor for reelection -- but there's a catch

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed the governor of Alaska, according to a CNN.com report.

According to the news, Trump told the governor that he could only have his coveted endorsement if he pledged never to support the state's U.S. senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski. Trump announced the condition in his statement of endorsement for Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

"Alaska needs Mike Dunleavy as Governor now more than ever. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement but, this endorsement is subject to his non-endorsement of Senator Lisa Murkowski who has been very bad for Alaska," Trump said in a statement. "In other words, if Mike endorses her, which is his prerogative, my endorsement of him is null and void, and of no further force or effect!"

The feud has been going on for quite a while as the senior Alaskan leader refused to kowtow to Trump's demand of unfaltering loyalty. It all began when Murkowski said that she wouldn't vote for him in the 2016 election after the "Access Hollywood" tape was released.

READ MORE: Why Trump could help turn Alaska's Senate seat blue with his war on Lisa Murkowski

In 2017, Trump and the Republican Party began their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. One of the biggest problems is that Republicans had campaigned for several elections on "repeal and replace Obamacare." The reality, however, is that they never had the replacement part of that.

Murkowski was a key swing vote on the legislation. However, Trump's secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, who is now running for Congress in Montana, threatened to withhold already allocated funds from Alaska if Murkowski didn't vote to repeal Obamacare. Fellow colleague, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) called it "troubling."

During the first impeachment of Trump in 2019, she noted how "disturbing" it was that the GOP-led Senate was coordinating Trump's defense instead of voting on it.

In 2018, she voted against Judge Brett Kavanaugh being added to the U.S. Supreme Court after a full FBI investigation was stopped, sexual assault allegations surfaced, and there were concerns about mountains of debt suddenly disappearing. Trump proclaimed that Murkowski would never recover from the action.

READ MORE: Trump-backed candidate has 'a residency problem' in Alaska – according to GOP's Lisa Murkowski

By this year, Trump and Murkowski were effectively done. Trump announced that he would support the Republican who ran against Murkowski. She officially became his top candidate to beat in 2022. His problem is that Murkowski has been in similar battles with her own party before. During the 2010 tea party uprising, Murkowski lost in the primary. So, she ran outside the party structure as a write-in candidate. She won.