Trump's revenge politics comes back to haunt him
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo illustration: Maura Kearns/Axios. Photo: Luong Thai Linh/Pool/AFP
President Trump's week started in triumph when he took out a pair of Republican adversaries up for re-election — but it's ending in a rare moment of Republican resistance, largely of his own making.
Why it matters: Trump has spent the better part of a decade steamrolling congressional Republicans, but the costs of his revenge campaign — and some politically toxic priorities — have finally caught up with him.
Driving the news: Just as the Senate was getting ready to take up a reconciliation bill Thursday to fund immigration enforcement, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) suddenly decided he would send the chamber home until June.
- The move spared Republicans from having to vote on Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" to compensate people his administration says were targeted by the Biden Justice Department. Republicans also might have been forced to vote on security funding for Trump's White House ballroom.
- The fund idea in particular was turning into a political debacle on the Hill — a "slush fund" to critics in both parties.
- "Stupid on stilts" and "tyranny" was how Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) described the idea to Spectrum News.
- "Somebody described it as a galactic blunder, and I think that's probably true," Sen. Ron Johnson told CNN.
- Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.): "On May 21st 2026, Republicans finally found an ethical bridge too far."
The intrigue: Trump's political vengeance campaign is only exacerbating his problems on Capitol Hill.
- On Saturday, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) lost a primary after Trump endorsed his opponent and attacked Cassidy relentlessly.
- A few days later, Trump flexed again when another critic, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), was defeated by another Trump-backed candidate.
- Trump this week also endorsed Sen. John Cornyn's Republican rival in the Texas primary, creating another GOP senator with nothing to lose.
What they're saying: Thune acknowledged that the president's political activities aren't helping his legislative cause. "It's hard to divorce anything that happens here from what's happening in the political atmosphere around us," Thune said. "You can't disconnect those things."
- Between Cornyn, Cassidy and Tillis — plus Sens. Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins — a growing bloc of Senate Republicans is emerging to give Trump heartburn on a regular basis.
For the record: "The Administration appreciated today's conversation and feedback," a White House official said of the Republican objections to the "weaponization" fund. "We look forward to additional conversations as needed."
- That was an apparent reference to a heated hourlong meeting between Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's and Senate Republicans about the proposal.
What's next: Republicans are also pushing back on Trump's $1 billion request to fund the Secret Service and security for his planned White House Ballroom.
- And Democrats are closing in on the votes to pass a war powers resolution to rein in Trump's authority over the war with Iran. House GOP leadership scrapped a vote on a war resolution Thursday after it became clear they lacked the votes to defeat it.
The bottom line: Trump's consequence-free presidency may be coming to an end.
