A working lunch between President Trump and Senate Republicans turned into a heated confrontation when the president took aim at four GOP senators who broke ranks on a war powers resolution limiting his military operations in Iran.
The clash centered on Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who stood up to challenge the president's Iran strategy. Cassidy told Trump the military campaign had dragged on far longer than promised. "You have not told the American people what's going on. It was supposed to last four weeks. It's lasted four months," Cassidy said later to reporters.
Trump responded by invoking Cassidy's recent primary loss to a Trump-backed challenger, escalating the tension in the room. One person present described Cassidy's anger level as "out of body." At one point, Trump told the senator to sit down.
Cassidy, who is leaving the Senate, did not back down. "If someone tries to bully me and say, 'Wait a second, because I am whatever I am, I'm going to bully you.' I ain't going to put up with it because I'm sticking up for my people," he told reporters. "I make no apologies for standing up to the president."
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas characterized the lunch as "spirited," a diplomatic understatement of the fireworks that unfolded.
Beyond the Iran dispute, Trump used the gathering to press senators on two other priorities. He urged them to pass the SAVE America Act and eliminate the filibuster, demands he has repeated multiple times. But there was little substantive discussion about either measure, according to sources in attendance. The fate of a bipartisan housing bill also hung in the air after Trump cancelled a planned signing ceremony Wednesday without explanation.
Majority Leader John Thune remained silent throughout the lunch, sources said. Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota acknowledged afterward that opinions on the filibuster had not shifted. "I think everybody walked out with the very same opinion they had before he came in, but, you know, we heard him out," Cramer told reporters.
The president's team included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, and special envoy Steve Witkoff. During the discussion, Trump defended his Iran agreement and praised Vice President JD Vance for his role in securing it.
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who organized the lunch, said Trump was "disappointed" with the four senators who voted for the war powers resolution. "I think if I was a president, and I was in the middle of a negotiation to try to protect American lives, I would be frustrated too," Scott told reporters.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama summed up the mood simply. "The President got a lot of things off his chest," he told Axios.
Author James Rodriguez: "Trump's loss of temper at his own party confirms what everyone already knows: when GOP senators cross him, he doesn't debate, he retaliates."
Comments