President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are barely speaking. The rift is exposing cracks in the GOP as the party heads into the 2026 midterms. While House Speaker Mike Johnson fields near-constant calls from Trump, but Thune says he can go weeks without hearing from the president directly. He often learns of Trump’s latest complaints through Truth Social or the press instead.
Donald Trump and John Thune are increasingly divided over the SAVE America Act and Senate strategy
The two men were never personally close, but their working relationship has reportedly cooled a lot in recent months. John Thune told CNN he hadn’t spoken to Donald Trump in nearly two weeks during a critical Senate stretch. The latter included a troubled Cabinet nominee and a stalled Iran funding bill. “With me, it’s more on an as-needed basis,” Thune said of his contact with the president.
The distance has widened since Trump backed a primary challenge against Sen. John Cornyn in May. The president began pushing to end the Senate filibuster, a move John Thune has firmly rejected. “It’s just a fact, we’re not going to nuke the filibuster,” Thune said.
Trump has also pressed Senate Republicans to pass his “SAVE America Act,” a voting restrictions bill the Senate has already turned down. He has publicly criticized Thune’s leadership over the issue, even as the chamber juggles other priorities, including a government funding deadline and Sen. Lindsey Graham’s Russia sanctions bill.
Moreover, Graham’s recent death has removed a key link between the two leaders. He was described as a “linchpin” connecting Trump and Thune, according to one senator. Many Republicans worry the infighting could hurt the party in November. “I would say we’re all longing for a relationship with the White House where we work more in harmony,” said Sen. John Curtis of Utah. Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia warned that continued clashes “will make it worse for the president” if the GOP loses seats.
With a five-week recess approaching and the party’s Senate majority far from secure, the tension between Trump and Thune shows no sign of easing soon.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
