(CNN) Back before he controlled the GOP, before his endorsement seemed capable of swinging a primary, before he was President of the United States and before he'd won most Republican primaries in 2016, Donald Trump had very few friends in Congress.

Just a handful of Republican lawmakers endorsed his campaign early on.

Interestingly, while Trump's power in the party has only grown, those lawmakers who first stuck their necks out for him have not fared well in the Trump era.

The Washington Post was tracking this back in March of 2016, when Trump had the GOP primary well in hand but only token support on Capitol Hill. They called the first five lawmakers to endorse him Congress' Trump caucus

You'd be hard-pressed to find many Republicans who wouldn't endorse him now. Those who opposed him in 2016 have paid a price. ( Ahem, Jeff Flake ).

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