As President
Donald Trump girds for a U.S.
Senate impeachment trial, he is entrusting the future of his presidency to someone widely known as a shrewd negotiator who also plays hardball politics at a level unusual even by
Washington standards.
![Trump must now depend on Grim Reaper McConnell to save him in Senate trial](https://media.zenfs.com/en-US/reuters.com/43a5d441affdd64229257bc6c275b89e)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a self-proclaimed "Grim Reaper" who long has stood in the way of Democrats' initiatives, is embracing that role as he suits up for an impeachment trial.
McConnell, the top
Republican in
Congress, has already said there is no chance Trump, his party's leader, will be convicted on charges that he abused his office and obstructed a congressional investigation into his conduct.