Is US President Donald Trump out of touch with his own voters ahead of the midterm elections? Reports claim that Senate Majority Leader John Thune is growing frustrated with the president over a string of issues.
According to an Axios report, the Senate majority leader has publicly broken with Trump on recent controversies. “It’s a sign that Trump’s sway with congressional Republicans is waning as he approaches the back half of his term,” the report added.
Thune vs Trump: The big picture
Thune has repeatedly made his differences with Trump known in recent weeks, in a low-key manner, Axios reported.
“I’m not a big fan,” Thune said of Trump’s proposal for a $1.78 billion “anti-weaponisation” fund. Earlier this week, US Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that he wants President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponisation” fund dropped from an immigration enforcement spending bill.
Critics, including much of the Senate Republican Conference, said the money could have been used to compensate rioters in the January 6 attacks. “I don’t see a purpose for it.” At another point, he said the proposal “doesn’t pass the smell test,” Axios quoted him as saying.
On Tuesday, Trump announced that he was appointing Bill Pulte – a loyalist who has used his perch as the nation’s top housing regulator to launch investigations into perceived Trump opponents – as acting Director of National Intelligence, despite having no apparent intelligence experience.
Thune had then appeared to acknowledge wider scepticism of the appointment: “We don’t need a weaponised DNI,” he told reporters Tuesday. If the White House were to try to install Pulte in the role permanently, he added, he would have “a lengthy road ahead of him” to win confirmation.
Moreover, after the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian ruled that money for Trump’s proposed ballroom couldn’t be included in an immigration enforcement bill, the president demanded she be fired.
Thune wouldn’t bite. Instead, he argued the problem wasn’t the parliamentarian — it was the vote count. He’s repeatedly bucked Trump’s call to do away with the filibuster, the report added.
Besides, Thune was visibly disappointed when Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Texas Republican Senate primary — after months of urging the president to get behind his friend and colleague, Sen. John Cornyn.
“None of us controls what the president does. He made his decision about that. That doesn’t change the way I feel. I will certainly continue to be supportive of Sen. Cornyn,” Thune told reporters. Cornyn lost in a rout.
Thune has been with the president on his biggest priorities, from tariffs and nominees to immigration and tax cuts in the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
“I think the president has overwhelming support among Republicans across the country,” Thune told reporters Tuesday.
“We continue to listen to his advice and counsel and do everything we can to help the country succeed, because I think in the end that’s what the American people expect, and frankly, that’s what our jobs are all about.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement, “The White House and President Trump have enjoyed working closely with Leader Thune and Senate Republicans to deliver on many important promises to the American people, including the largest tax cut for working Americans in history.”
“While the media attempts to sow nonexistent divisions, we look forward to continuing this close relationship with Leader Thune and fulfilling President Trump’s agenda that Americans elected him to enact,” Jackson was quoted by Axios as saying.
