Lawmakers warn that President Trump’s increasing attacks on fellow Republicans endanger his legislative agenda in Congress and isolate segments of the GOP base.
Some of the president’s ire is directed at Republicans who do not always vote with the GOP majority, such as Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Others, such as Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas, are in Mr. Trump’s crosshairs for perceived personal disloyalty.
Mr. Massie and Mr. Cassidy both lost Republican primaries this month to Trump-backed challengers, and Mr. Cornyn was next in line in a runoff election Tuesday.
The president’s enemy list has grown to the point that he cannot count on having enough support in Congress to pass legislation. Republicans currently hold a two-vote margin in the House and a three-seat majority in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, acknowledged the president’s decision to endorse against two incumbent GOP senators was exacerbating legislative tensions.
“I think it’s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in the political atmosphere around us,” he said last week. “You can’t disconnect those things.”
Republicans are frustrated that Mr. Trump is spending his time on intraparty grudges rather than focusing on defeating Democrats in the midterm elections this fall.
Many are afraid to voice those concerns out of fear they will be the next subject of a Truth Social attack, but not Sen. Thom Tillis.
The North Carolina Republican said his decision not to run for reelection has removed his “extra filter,” so he is speaking out on his colleagues’ behalf — and drawing renewed criticisms from Mr. Trump.
“The American people want right-of-center conservative policies that have been successfully proposed by this president. But these distractions are harmful to our chances in November,” Mr. Tillis said Sunday on CNN. “And anybody that gets in the way of my colleagues, Republican colleagues, getting reelected are a problem.”
Mr. Massie, fresh off his primary defeat at the hands of a Trump-recruited candidate, also warned that the president’s misplaced priorities could harm Republicans in the midterms.
“It’s true you can take out Republicans in primaries. But Republicans are going to be very vulnerable this fall,” he said on NBC.
Mr. Massie pointed to the president seeking taxpayer money for securing the new White House ballroom when he promised the project would be entirely funded by private donations as an example.
“The president was bragging on the Roman architecture when in fact we’re operating like a Roman empire,” he said. “We’re overextended overseas with our foreign aid, with our foreign bases. We’re spending money that we don’t have, and the gasoline and rent and groceries are so high that people can’t afford it. I do think it’s dangerous to indulge in these things like a gold-plated ballroom in Washington, D.C., while Americans are suffering.”
Mr. Massie also argued that the president has disenfranchised a large portion of that constituency that helped elect a Republican trifecta in 2024 by breaking promises to slash government spending and keep the U.S. out of foreign conflicts.
“There’s a growing number of people on the right who have a form of TDS called Trump Disappointment Syndrome,” he said.
Mr. Trump has not let up on his intraparty attacks. On Monday, he looped Mr. Massie, whom he called a “major sleazebag,” Mr. Tillis and Mr. Cassidy into the same category as Democrats, calling them “weak and ineffective people.”
The president was upset about criticism over his emerging deal with Iran and “each and every fantastic win I have.
“These people should go home and rest,” he said. “They do nothing but create division and loss.”
Even Republicans who are not party to the feuds have taken notice of the growing impact.
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, spoke on his podcast about the potential for Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Paul to thwart the president’s agenda, given that Republicans only hold a three-seat majority in the Senate.
“If you lose four senators, you’re below 50 and you can’t get anything done,” he said. “That is going to be a complicating factor for the rest of the year. Like those four senators, I don’t envision suddenly anything becoming hunky dory and their being happy.”
The dynamic is primarily a factor in confirmation votes on Trump nominees and a few legislative measures that are exempt from the Senate filibuster.
Senate Republicans delayed consideration of a filibuster-proof immigration and law enforcement funding bill last week amid concerns about the ballroom security funding and Democrats using the open amendment process to attack Mr. Trump’s new $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund.
Mr. Cruz said 20-some GOP senators were prepared to side with Democrats and that the administration will need to make some changes to the fund if they hope to salvage the funding package.
Republicans are also breaking with Mr. Trump on Iran as Democrats in both chambers have forced repeated votes on war powers resolutions to end the conflict.
Mr. Cassidy, after his primary loss, voted in support of the war powers measure for the first time, saying the White House has kept Congress in the dark on Operation Epic Fury.
“In Louisiana, I’ve heard from people, including President Trump’s supporters, who are concerned about this war,” he said. “Until the administration provides clarity, no congressional authorization or extension can be justified.”
Mr. Cassidy’s support was enough to advance the war power resolution on a 50-47 procedural vote, with three Republicans absent.
Mr. Tillis and Mr. Cornyn were among those absent and will determine whether the war powers measure passes or fails when it comes up for a final vote sometime in June.
Mr. Cornyn said he does not plan to change his approach if he loses his runoff, noting he would continue to pick his fights on a case-by-case basis.
“I want [Mr. Trump] to be successful, and I want America to be successful. I want our party to be successful,” Mr. Cornyn said on News Nation. “I’ll continue to vote in that same way but sometimes the president needs a little help, particularly when we’re dealing with the midterms here, where I think there’s a lot more anxiety than perhaps we can fully appreciate.”
Mr. Trump has mostly attacked Republicans whose seats are considered safe in November.
Mr. Massie and Mr. Cassidy are not in danger of being replaced by a Democrat, but Republicans fear Mr. Cornyn’s seat may be vulnerable with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on the November ballot.
Last week, the president also curiously chose to attack Mr. Fitzpatrick, one of only three Republicans who represent a district Mr. Trump lost in 2024.
“He likes voting against Trump. You know what happens with that? It doesn’t work out well,” Mr. Trump said after Mr. Fitzpatrick’s fiancée, Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, tried to ask him a question.
Mr. Fitzpatrick was unfazed.
“It’s not going to change how I vote at all,” he said.
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