Rand Paul and President Donald Trump are looking far more aligned lately — almost like friends.

The Kentucky Republican senator spent much of Trump’s second term at odds with the president on major issues, from last year’s tax cuts to Trump’s sweeping tariffs to the war in Iran, even opposing Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation as Homeland Security secretary. That distance got Paul labeled a “sick wacko” by the loyalty-conscious Trump, who initially excluded him from last year’s White House picnic.

But in recent weeks, Paul spearheaded a $70 billion immigration enforcement funding bill, drawing praise from Trump and an invitation to the White House signing ceremony. He’s giving the president backup on voter ID and ending birthright citizenship.

Paul is also providing an encouraging counterweight to more hawkish colleagues who warn Trump not to negotiate with Iran. And his picnic invitation caused no kerfuffle this year. The libertarian-minded senator’s pinned X post is praise from the president: “He knows what’s important.”

Republicans on Capitol Hill are taking notice of the mutual thaw. It’s not lost on them that Paul’s closest ally in Congress, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was just taken out by Trump in a primary. Senate Republicans see Paul as more keenly aware of his standing inside the party than Massie, and he is acting accordingly.

Paul said it’s been natural to support Trump in recent weeks: “I just keep supporting the things I’ve always supported. I’m always for peace versus war. On the border, I think you can’t have open borders,” he said in an interview.

“I just look at things one issue at a time, and I try to be consistently a defender of the Constitution,” he added. “I don’t think I’ll change from that.”

Paul also told Semafor he still may run for president, but wants to see how the midterms shake out first: “We’re going to look at that after the election.” He is up for reelection in 2028.

His team-player role during the occasionally rocky debate over the party-line immigration spending bill clearly helped smooth things over with Trump. The president recently trashed Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who opposed the bill, then said that “Rand Paul’s come a long way … I like Rand Paul.”

“He really tries to get along with people, the president does. I think the way Rand conducted himself on the floor [during the immigration bill], he helped the team out, and I think the president appreciated it,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., who attended the signing ceremony with Paul.

The relationship may also be transactional. Paul is a powerful committee chair and could find himself leading either the Homeland Security Committee or the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next Congress due to the Trump-fueled ouster of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.

“He’s a US senator. When the senator plays nice, the president plays nice. Not complicated,” said a person close to Trump.