Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that it’s time for special counsel Robert Mueller to conclude the federal probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Moscow by President Trump.

“What I think about the Mueller investigation is, they ought to wrap it up. It’s gone on seemingly forever and I don’t know how much more they think they can find out,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview with “Behind Closed Doors,” a Washington Examiner podcast.

McConnell said he had not reviewed the explosive Department of Justice inspector general report examining the FBI’s flawed handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. Clinton was the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.

Senate Republicans have been more careful in their approach to the Mueller probe than have their GOP colleagues in the House, who months ago formed something of a Trump cheerleading section in their criticism of the special counsel to help the president defend himself from questions raised by the investigation.

But McConnell’s expressed impatience, especially considering his tendency to speak deliberately and economically, suggests that Senate Republicans are growing weary of the investigation as crucial midterm elections draw near. Republicans in the Senate have an opportunity to gain seats, even as the overall environment is sour for their party, and they worry about outside factors spoiling their prospects.

“If the IG is through, why can’t the Mueller investigation finally wrap up?” McConnell said.

McConnell’s position puts him more in sync with Trump, which is where the majority leader wants his conference to be this fall. Senate Republicans are eyeing pickups in several red states Trump won in 2016; aligning with the president could pay dividends. Trump has called the Mueller probe politically motivated and a "witch hunt" that should have ended months ago.

McConnell, in a wide-ranging interview with “Behind Closed Doors” to discuss his tenure as the longest serving Republican to lead his party in the Senate, also revealed that he has no plans to allow legislation on the floor that would curtail Trump’s ability to levy tariffs on imports.

That’s notable because the majority leader, 76 years old and first elected to the Senate in 1984, opposes the president’s trade policies.

He worries that billions of dollars of tariffs on imported steel and aluminum and other goods could spark a trade war that costs American workers their jobs — including in Kentucky, where the economy could take a major hit if other nations retaliate against the U.S. by imposing steep tariffs of their own.

“I’m still hopeful we don’t end up in a full-scale trade war. I don’t think it will be a war that anybody can win. The president is confident that it won’t really come to that and I’m hoping he’s right about that,” said McConnell, who has served as the top Senate Republican for nearly a dozen years, and was the No. 2 leader before that. “I do worry about — and a lot of my members worry about — the impact on, let’s say, Kentucky bourbon, for example, or Kentucky farmers.”

McConnell reminded that he worked hard to pass legislation giving then-President Barack Obama a freer hand to negotiate trade deals, over the objection of top congressional Democrats at the time, and that he wasn’t interested in taking that power, known as "Trade Promotion Authority," away from Trump.

“Statutorily, I don’t think it makes sense to try to impair what President Trump’s doing,” McConnell said. “The best thing is to continue to engage with the administration, make our arguments, and hope that this doesn’t continue.”

Last summer, Trump and Senate Republicans were embroiled in a civil war that played out over social media. The fight threatened to depress turnout for congressional Republicans in the midterm elections and ruin the party’s chances of holding its thin, 51-49 majority (it was 52-48 at this time last year).

Cognizant of that, McConnell and Trump took joint steps to diffuse tensions.

The president vowed support for all Republican incumbents on the midterm ballot, and GOP senators who are running for re-election have taken pains not to antagonize Trump. McConnell indicated that 2018 is a factor in his decision not to cross the president on trade, a subject he cares deeply about.

“The president’s in very, very strong shape with Republican voters and in a number of key states where we have an opportunity to pick up seats — like Montana, North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, West Virginia — the president’s not only in good shape with Republicans, but beyond,” McConnell explained. “So we certainly do want to minimize our differences, and mostly we’ve been on the same team.”

McConnell is not up for re-election until 2020, but is already taking steps to build a campaign. He had already announced plans for a seventh term and more years as the Senate GOP leader. Never one to procrastinate, McConnell has started to put those plans in motion.

“I’ve never believed in starting late in any campaign, whether it’s a leadership campaign or a campaign for the Senate itself,” McConnell said. “I’ve felt that early planning and not being coy about what you’re up to — I’ve never played with whether I was running or not, I’ve never done any public soul-searching about it.”