'Cluster F*ck': Trump's Dramatic Feud With Senate Republicans Boils Over
Politics
‘Cluster F*ck’: Trump’s Dramatic Feud With Senate Republicans Boils Over
(Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
Ashley Brasfield & Rebeka Zeljko Contributor June 24, 2026 4:08 PM ET June 24, 2026 4:08 PM ET Ashley Brasfield & Rebeka Zeljko Contributor Font Size:President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated appearance at the Senate Republicans’ weekly lunch took a turn for the worse, deepening the ideological fault lines between Congress and the White House.
Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his Republican colleagues Wednesday to address disagreements on policies related to the Iran war and his flagship election integrity bill, known as the SAVE America Act.
These tensions reached a boiling point after Trump canceled the signing of a major bipartisan housing bill moments before the lunch was set to take place, in an attempt to further pressure the Senate to make progress on the SAVE America Act. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Thune Admits Some Senate Republicans Hate Trump Too Much To Support SAVE America Act)
The lunch quickly escalated after Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy — who is serving his last term after Trump backed a successful primary challenger — unloaded on the president for the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. A person familiar with the conversations told the Caller that Cassidy “went nuts over Iran,” saying the two got into a shouting match.
Trump reportedly told Cassidy to sit down and called him a “lunatic” when he refused. Cassidy also referred to Trump as “brother,” leading Trump to push back and say he wasn’t his “brother.”
One source described the interaction to Semafor as “a total cluster f*ck.”
.@POTUS arrives for lunch with the @SenateGOP on Capitol Hill.
PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT! pic.twitter.com/5vUn2vmUbJ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 24, 2026
Two sources familiar with the lunch told the Caller that Republican Pennsylvania Sen. David McCormick took some heat from the president for missing the Senate war powers vote on Tuesday, which passed the Senate 50-48. The nonbinding resolution directs the president to remove forces from Iran or seek congressional approval to continue the war.
McCormick was absent for the vote because he accompanied Trump at his Pennsylvania rally Tuesday.
Trump similarly railed against Republicans like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Kentucky Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul over the war powers vote. Murkowski and Paul voted with Democrats in favor of the resolution while McConnell did not vote.
“Lots of unity, lots of Republican love on Republican love,” Paul sarcastically said following the lunch.
“Number one, the president was mad as a murder hornet about the war powers vote, and I don’t blame him,” Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said. “Put yourself in his shoes, he’s right in the middle of delicate negotiations.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 24: U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive at the U.S. Capitol on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is visiting Capitol Hill to attend a closed-door luncheon with the Republican Senate Steering Committee to push his SAVE America Act, which would impose strict voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements in federal elections. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump also took the opportunity to lobby senators about the SAVE America Act, an election integrity bill requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration and voter ID.
Trump argued that Republican voters would be inspired to turn out in November if the Senate successfully passes the SAVE America Act, according to one source familiar with the conversation. Another source told the Caller that Trump “outright told Thune he needs to be a leader and get the votes for SAVE.” (RELATED: Democrats Are Turning Out In Droves — Even In MAGA Country)
“Do the talking filibuster if you have to,” Trump said, according to the source.
🚨WATCH: President Trump says he had a “really great” meeting with Senate Republicans and the party is “really well unified.”
“We like everybody really in the room. I don’t like a few people, but that’s okay, I think you know who they are.” pic.twitter.com/VZ3WFsNgPi
— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) June 24, 2026
Several senators in the room have encountered newfound liberation after deciding to retire or seeing their careers cut short due to Trump-endorsed challengers.
Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who is among the retiring GOP lawmakers, got into a spat with his colleague Utah Sen. Mike Lee for echoing Trump’s calls to force a talking filibuster.
“I think it’s silly. All of it’s just goofy stuff,” Tillis said. “It’s like a remake of a bad movie that just keeps on getting released.”
Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was primaried by Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, remained completely silent during the lunch, according to a person familiar. Like some of his Senate colleagues, he instead teed off on the president while departing the lunch.
“The president closed by preaching unity, but he spent the entire hour talking about things which were not exactly unifying,” Cornyn told reporters.
The president, too, made his feelings known about some members of his party.
“We like everybody really in the room,” Trump said after the lunch. “I don’t like a few people, but that’s okay. I think you know who they are.”
The Daily Caller reached out to the communications staffs of Sens. Thune, McCormick, and Cassidy but did not hear back in time for publication.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
