President Donald Trump is escalating his war of words against Senate Majority Leader John Thune. He’s still not likely to get what he wants.
Trump on Wednesday told rally-goers in Georgia to “call John Thune” over the Senate GOP’s inability to pass a partisan election bill, known as the SAVE America Act, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday said the president’s patience with the South Dakota Republican is “running out.”
But if Trump’s rhetoric is meant to drive Republican voters to the polls this fall -– and some allies believe it will only increase ahead of November — it does little to change the reality in the Senate, where the SAVE America Act still doesn’t have the votes to pass. Instead, many Republicans on Thursday came to their leader’s defense, acknowledging an unwinnable standoff between the president and their 53-seat majority.
“This idea that he can just command members of the Republican conference to get in line is just a fantasy. So I think it’s unfair,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who ran against Thune for majority leader in 2024 and then lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed challenger earlier this year. “I don’t know who it was that sold the president on this idea, that this was obtainable, but it’s creating a circular firing squad for Republicans.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) added: “John can’t put a gun to people’s head and make them vote a particular way.”
It marks the latest turbulent moment between the president and Senate Republicans, after Trump last month ranted at GOP senators in a closed-door lunch. They, in turn, have fumed several times this year about a lack of coordination from the White House.
For months, Thune and other Republicans have privately tried to tell Trump, and allies in the White House, that the votes aren’t there to pass the SAVE America Act — whether with the 60-vote threshold required for most legislation to advance or even if senators did away with the filibuster, which doesn’t have the votes, either.
Senate Republicans have also stewed for months that Trump remains fixated on attacking Republicans over the election bill rather than training his fury on Democrats who won’t allow movement on other items in the president’s legislative agenda.
That message, however, appears to have fallen on deaf ears inside the Oval Office.
“The Senate is a place you send things when you want them to die,” Trump said at the Georgia rally. “We’re not going to take this any longer, we’re not going to take it. I’m trying to be nice.”
A normally even-keeled Thune immediately pushed back when asked about Leavitt’s comments, suggesting that the White House should “get on the phone” to lock in the needed votes instead of pointing fingers.
“It’s 50 around here, and so instead of, you know, pointing the finger at Republicans, they might think about going after the people who are stopping it on the floor, which is the Democrats. And if there are Republicans that they think are gettable, get on the phone,” Thune said.
But Thune and Trump also need each other. Losing the Senate majority would be a catastrophic blow for Trump, with the House majority already in grave peril. At the same time, if Trump were to go nuclear on Thune, it would be a huge political headache for GOP senators, who would face pressure to pick sides and risk only further alienating base voters who they need.
Shortly after his initial comments, Thune moved to lower the tension, saying he did not “read a lot” into Leavitt’s comment.
“I think it was a question she got, and she was responding to it,” he said, adding that he and Trump have a “fairly regular conversation” but acknowledged it’s “more on an as-needed basis.”
The White House referred to Leavitt’s and the president’s latest comments in response to senators’ saying they don’t have the votes on SAVE America, despite Trump’s pressure.
But the volleys traded between the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue this week underscore how much of a sore point the election bill has become between the two men.
Privately, some Senate Republicans believe Trump is lashing out at Thune because, unlike in the House where the president is able to muscle through just about anything with enough pressure, he is unable to get the Senate Republican Conference to bend to his every whim.
That posture has been most prominent when it comes to protecting institutional norms against Trump’s wrath, like the legislative filibuster and the blue slip precedent that allows the minority to block a lower-court judicial nominee from their home states.
“How often has the House called in Trump to twist arms on votes? When he does it, he takes credit. The fact that Trump can’t do it in the Senate is why they’re blaming Thune,” said one Senate GOP aide, granted anonymity to speak candidly.
A second Senate GOP aide, also granted anonymity to discuss party dynamics, said Trump’s pressure on Thune about the SAVE America Act is “just exhausting” for Republicans.
“What leverage does he have over the Senate? He’s not spending the war chest because he’s saving it for when the House impeaches him. Trump doesn’t care about Congress at all,” the aide said, referring to the $400 million sitting unspent in the MAGA Inc. super PAC.
Behind-the-scenes, Trump is enraged, with some allies believing he will only ramp up the pressure on Thune after the August recess. How far he goes, however, could depend on the outcome of the midterms.
Thune is intending to run for GOP leader again in November and no Senate Republican has backed a challenge to him. Many Senate Republicans believe Thune is secure in his position, but some have questioned if the president could go after him after the November elections — especially if Republicans lose the majority, according to two people granted anonymity to speak candidly.
“Trump is legitimately pissed at Thune over the SAVE America Act. And the president hates the war powers votes, which just add insult to injury,” said a person close to the White House granted anonymity to speak freely.
Kennedy, however, acknowledged that “when you’re the majority leader you take a lot of spears and arrows,” but “to my knowledge, there’s no effort to replace anybody.”
White House aides have long argued that the president was elected on the promise of election integrity, and that Senate Republicans should carry out the will of the voters by advancing the bill. Some people close to the White House have even suggested that failure to pass the SAVE America Act could depress turnout among core elements of the MAGA base who are more responsive to red-meat issues at the ballot box, though GOP senators believe it’s the months of infighting that would come back to bite them, not the failure to pass the bill.
A second person close to the White House said the president is “growing tired of the excuses and lack of effort” when it comes to Thune.
Thune and his allies, however, say it’s not a lack of effort. The Senate spent weeks debating the SAVE America Act and held votes related to it as part of debate around an immigration enforcement bill as well.
Even some of Thune’s right flank declined to pile on the White House’s remarks Thursday.
“I don’t know what else I can add to it,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), while Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who some GOP senators suspect might like to mount another leadership bid against Thune, acknowledged that the current majority leader has a “hard job.”
Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), said he agreed with Trump on the SAVE America Act but returned to Thune’s concern about the votes.
Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
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