With the Midterms Looming, Trump Keeps Pushing for His Republican Critics to Lose Their Seats

As lawmakers prepare to defend their seats in the midterms, President Donald Trump has publicly railed against several members of his own party who are up for re-election and endorsed their opponents in the upcoming primaries.

From Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie to Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Trump has blasted a number of Republican lawmakers who will be on the ballot this year after they criticized his policies or broke with him in their votes on various pieces of legislation. 

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The November elections could be pivotal for the partisan balance of power in Washington: While Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress and the White House, the party of the sitting President tends to lose seats in the midterms, and the GOP doesn’t have many to spare. Republican control of the House appears particularly at risk, though Democratic leaders see a very narrow path to reclaiming the Senate as well, despite a difficult map.

Read More: Here Are the Key Elections to Watch Out For in 2026

The outcome of the midterms could also have significant implications for the later half of the President’s second term and his ability to enact his agenda.

It remains to be seen how Trump’s attempts to push out his Republican critics might impact the upcoming electoral battles. Here are some of the Republicans who have provoked the President’s ire.

Rep. Thomas Massie

The President has slammed the Kentucky Republican repeatedly over the past few months, as Massie has broken with Trump on a range of issues, including by vocally opposing the One Big Beautiful Bill. 

Most recently, Massie has spoken in support of Americans’ right to bear arms amid the Trump Administration’s defense of federal agents fatally shooting Alex Pretti, who had a firearms permit and was carrying at the time. Massie has also sharply rebuked the President over his moves in Venezuela. Last week, he was one of just two House Republicans to join the chamber’s Democrats in voting for a war powers resolution that aimed to restrict Trump’s ability to carry out further military action in the South American country.

Massie also led the campaign to push the Justice Department to release the files related to the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Trump long opposed. Massie joined with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California to co-write the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the Justice Department to release all the so-called “Epstein files” by Dec. 19, and to co-sponsor the discharge petition that forced the vote on the measure. While Trump dismissed concerns about the Epstein files for months and pushed back on efforts to compel their release, he ultimately signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law in November, after it was passed by Congress.

In a post on Truth Social on Monday, Trump called Massie “the Worst ‘Republican’ Congressman we have had in many years,” “a Weak and Pathetic RINO” (Republican in name only), and “a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly.”

The President has endorsed Ed Gallrein, a Republican who is running against Massie in the primary election on May 19.

In his Monday post, Trump called Gallrein “a true Patriot,” and urged “all MAGA Warriors to rally behind Captain Ed Gallrein, the Candidate who is, far and away, best positioned to DEFEAT Third Rate Congressman Thomas Massie.”

Whoever ultimately emerges from the primary, Massie’s seat is unlikely to flip in November. The Kentucky Republican ran uncontested in his last re-election bid in 2024; two years earlier, he defeated his Democratic opponent by a more than 30-point margin. The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Solid Republican in the midterms, classifying it among the least competitive House races this year.

Sen. Susan Collins (and Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young)

Earlier this month, five Republican senators broke with their party and joined Democrats in voting to advance legislation that would rein in the President’s authority to pursue military actions in Venezuela going forward, similar to the measure Massie later backed in the House. Trump quickly rebuked the lawmakers: Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, and Indiana Sen. Todd Young.

“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Jan. 8. “Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again.”

Of those five senators, only Collins is up for re-election in this year’s midterms. And the race for her seat is set to be close, and potentially a key contest in the battle for Senate control. Maine, which former Vice President Kamala Harris won in the 2024 election, is considered to be Democrats’ most feasible chance to gain a Senate seat.

Collins, as well as Murkowski, were among the seven Republicans who voted in 2021 to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.

Sen. Bill Cassidy

On Jan. 17, Trump endorsed Louisiana Rep. Julia Letlow as a potential challenger against Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy in the Republican primary for his seat. Trump called Letlow a “Highly Respected America First Congresswoman” and “a Great Star” who “has ALWAYS delivered for Louisiana, and would continue doing so in the United States Senate.”

“Should she decide to enter this Race, Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” the President said in his Truth Social post. “RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!”

Letlow announced her campaign to run against Cassidy a few days later.

Trump didn’t mention Cassidy in his endorsement of Letlow, but there has been simmering tension between the President and the Louisiana senator. Cassidy, a physician and vocal supporter of vaccines, has been one of the few Republican lawmakers to publicly criticize the changes coming out of the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of the country’s most notorious vaccine skeptics. Cassidy raised significant concerns about Kennedy’s nomination during his confirmation hearings, though Cassidy ultimately voted to confirm Kennedy to lead the nation’s health agency. Cassidy also joined Collins, Murkowski, and four other Republicans in voting to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.

Like Massie’s seat, Cassidy’s is rated as Solid Republican by the Cook Political Report and is not expected to turn blue, whatever the outcome of the primaries. The Senator won re-election in 2020 by a roughly 40 point-margin.

Indiana state senators

Beyond Washington, the President has also railed against Indiana state Sens. Jim Buck and Greg Walker, who voted against a bill to redraw the state’s congressional maps amid Trump’s push for GOP-led states to redistrict in order to better the party’s electoral chances. In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump called Buck “a pathetic RINO incumbent” and slammed him for voting against the redistricting bill. He endorsed Buck’s opponent, Tracey Powell, a Tipton County commissioner who the President called “A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”

In a separate post earlier on Monday, Trump endorsed Walker’s challenger, state Rep. Michelle Davis. He also labeled Walker a “RINO,” and claimed that Walker’s decision to vote against the redistricting bill “puts the United States Congress in jeopardy.”