How GOP Leaders Are Coming to Terms With Donald Trump

— -- Donald Trump's ascension from Republican presidential contender to presumptive party nominee this week left some -- though not all -- members of the GOP dealing with the emotional pangs of sudden and severe loss.

What once sounded like a fever dream to many conservatives -- a reality star as a possible general election candidate -- all but became a reality. Those anticipating a contested convention this summer in Cleveland appeared to have their hopes swiftly killed when Trump's two remaining opponents, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, bowed out before even making it to the finish line of the primary season.

All week, many Republican leaders seemed to be passing through the political equivalent of the five stages of grief. Some even spoke of Trump's grip on the nomination in those terms. Here's a look at where some of them stand on the spectrum:

1. Denial

"You know, I don't know. I'm still in the first stage of grief, denial, I guess, at this point. But got to move past it and we'll see," Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake told NPR on Wednesday. Flake, like many of his colleagues in the Senate, are keeping Trump at arm's length, refusing to offer endorsements and pledging to avoid events with him.

None of the 24 GOP senators up for reelection have formally endorsed Trump.

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican who faces a competitive race against the state's Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, offered a statement on Wednesday that she plans to "support the nominee," but did not even go so far as to refer to Trump by name.

And come July, only one former GOP nominee plans to attend the national convention. Former President George H.W. Bush, former President George W. Bush, former Republican nominees Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts have all declined invitations to attend. Only former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, the party's 1996 presidential nominee, said he will attend.

2. Anger

The Never Trump movement appears to have settled into the second stage of grief: Anger.

On Tuesday night, some outspoken conservatives said they were de-registering as Republicans. Others, like former McCain adviser Mark Salter, furious that their party would back Trump, vowed to vote for Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton come November using the hashtag #ImWithHer on Twitter.

Republican strategist Katie Packer, founder of the anti-Trump group Our Principles PAC, said the group will focus on mitigating potential damage to vulnerable down-ballot races but will also continue to speak out against the Trump campaign.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, who mounted a failed 2016 presidential bid and has been outspoken against Trump, seemed exasperated.

"I don't think he's a reliable Republican conservative," Graham told CNN. "I don't believe that Donald Trump has the temperament and judgment to be commander in chief. I think Donald Trump is going to places where very few people have gone and I'm not going with him."

3. Bargaining

GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan said that while he hopes to support the GOP nominee, Trump will need to earn his endorsement.

"At this point, I think that he needs to do more to unify this party to bring all wings of the Republican Party together, and then to go forward and to appeal to all Americans and every walk of life, every background, a majority of independents and discerning Democrats," Ryan said in an interview with CNN. Next week, Trump and Ryan plan to meet in Washington, D.C. -- at Ryan’s invitation.

Others are hoping to bargain and broker deals, but toward different ends.

Conservative commentator and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol has been candid about his efforts to recruit a viable third party candidate. His plan if Clinton and Trump are the only options on the ballot? "Find a better choice," he wrote in a Weekly Standard editorial. "Recruit and support an independent candidate."

4. Depression

Besides Graham, perhaps no Republican senator has been as outspoken against Trump as Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

He unleashed a Twitter tirade against Trump and posted on Facebook "An Open Letter to Majority America."

"These two national political parties are enough of a mess that I believe they will come apart," Sasse wrote. "There are dumpster fires in my town more popular than these two 'leaders,'" referring to the low favorability ratings of both Clinton and Trump.

5. Acceptance

And then there are those who have reached the point of acceptance.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who railed against Trump as a presidential candidate this election cycle -- once calling him a "cancer on conservatism" -- endorsed his former rival this week. "He wasn't my first choice, wasn't my second choice, but he is the people's choice," Perry told CNN.

Another former presidential contender, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, also accepted Trump as the future nominee, tweeting that he is "all in."

And former Sen. Dole, in a statement release by the Trump campaign on Friday, declared that it "is time that we support the party's presumptive nominee.”

But for Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, acceptance also appears to be tinged with reluctance. At a Politico event on Friday, he defended Ryan's hesitance to accept Trump.

"I think what a lot of Republicans want to see is that we have a standard-bearer that bears our standards," he said. "I think Paul is being honest about how he feels. I think he's going to get there. By the way, he wants to get there, he just wants some time to just work through it."