President Donald Trump is on a “revenge tour” among Republican Party ranks that could very well continue right up into the 2028 election cycle.
The president has already gotten his own back against Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn in the current cycle.
Massie had proven himself a constant thorn in Trump’s side over the Epstein files furor, while Cassidy was one of seven GOP senators to vote for conviction after Trump’s second impeachment. The president has claimed Cornyn was “not supportive of me when times were tough.”
Trump backed challengers against all three in the Republican primaries this month. All three incumbents lost. Former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein will now contest Massie’s seat, with scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton running for Cornyn’s.
Louisiana Rep. Julia Letlow now advances to a runoff with state Treasurer John Fleming, incidentally another Trump favorite, for a spot at the top of the party ticket in the race for Cassidy’s seat.
Politico noted Wednesday that “Trump’s appetite for revenge” has not so far proven “entirely consistent.” Maine Sen. Susan Collins stands as a conspicuous exception, given that, like Cassidy, she voted to impeach Trump back in 2021.
The president warned Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert earlier this month that he would back a primary challenge against her over her support for Massie, but failed to do so before the filing deadline.
Trump also threatened Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick last week for not doing enough to back MAGA’s legislative agenda. His fury landed the day after Fitzpatrick had already advanced through an uncontested party race, and the congressman is now set to run on a GOP ticket for a sixth term.
“The real fireworks could come in 2028 Senate primaries,” Politico writes, naming three Senate Trump critics who might very well find themselves on the chopping block when the time comes.
Trump called Kentucky’s Rand Paul, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, and Indiana’s Todd Young out earlier this year after they voted to push a resolution that might have curtailed his administration from any further military action against the Venezuelan regime following his capture of Nicolas Maduro in January.
He wrote in a virulent Truth Social post that all three “should never be elected again.” Politico also identified Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who otherwise enjoys a warm relationship with the president, as an official who could face obstacles.
Thune has publicly insisted the GOP lacks the votes to push through measures to eliminate the filibuster in the Senate, even as Trump continues to trumpet the move as essential for the party’s political survival.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told the outlet he could easily see a number of his colleagues in the legislature leave office rather than face down the president’s fury in two years’ time. Tillis himself is retiring after the November midterms after tangling with Trump over the president’s crusade against former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
“But I also think… he’s not going to carry the same weight in the 2028 election cycle, particularly if we’ve lost one or both chambers in 2026,” Tillis said of any future cull, given Democrats currently hold an almost 7-point lead in this year’s battle for control of the House and Senate.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
