President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated appearance at the Senate Republicans’ weekly lunch took a turn for the worse, deepening the ideological fault lines between Congress and the White House.
Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and his Republican colleagues Wednesday to address disagreements on policies related to the Iran war and his flagship election integrity bill, known as the SAVE America Act.
These tensions reached a boiling point after Trump canceled the signing of a major bipartisan housing bill moments before the lunch was set to take place, in an attempt to further pressure the Senate to make progress on the SAVE America Act. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Thune Admits Some Senate Republicans Hate Trump Too Much To Support SAVE America Act)
The lunch quickly escalated after Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy — who is serving his last term after Trump backed a successful primary challenger — unloaded on the president for the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. A person familiar with the conversations told the Caller that Cassidy “went nuts over Iran,” saying the two got into a shouting match.
Trump reportedly told Cassidy to sit down and called him a “lunatic” when he refused. Cassidy also referred to Trump as “brother,” leading Trump to push back and say he wasn’t his “brother.”
One source described the interaction to Semafor as “a total cluster f*ck.”
.@POTUS arrives for lunch with the @SenateGOP on Capitol Hill.
PASS THE SAVE AMERICA ACT! pic.twitter.com/5vUn2vmUbJ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 24, 2026
Two sources familiar with the lunch told the Caller that Republican Pennsylvania Sen. David McCormick took some heat from the president for missing the Senate war powers vote on Tuesday, which passed the Senate 50-48. The nonbinding resolution directs the president to remove forces from Iran or seek congressional approval to continue the war.
McCormick was absent for the vote because he accompanied Trump at his Pennsylvania rally Tuesday.
Trump similarly railed against Republicans like Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Kentucky Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul over the war powers vote. Murkowski and Paul voted with Democrats in favor of the resolution while McConnell did not vote.
“Lots of unity, lots of Republican love on Republican love,” Paul sarcastically said following the lunch.
“Number one, the president was mad as a murder hornet about the war powers vote, and I don’t blame him,” Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said. “Put yourself in his shoes, he’s right in the middle of delicate negotiations.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 24: U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive at the U.S. Capitol on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump is visiting Capitol Hill to attend a closed-door luncheon with the Republican Senate Steering Committee to push his SAVE America Act, which would impose strict voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements in federal elections. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump also took the opportunity to lobby senators about the SAVE America Act, an election integrity bill requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration and voter ID.
Trump argued that Republican voters would be inspired to turn out in November if the Senate successfully passes the SAVE America Act, according to one source familiar with the conversation. Another source told the Caller that Trump “outright told Thune he needs to be a leader and get the votes for SAVE.” (RELATED: Democrats Are Turning Out In Droves — Even In MAGA Country)
“Do the talking filibuster if you have to,” Trump said, according to the source.
🚨WATCH: President Trump says he had a “really great” meeting with Senate Republicans and the party is “really well unified.”
“We like everybody really in the room. I don’t like a few people, but that’s okay, I think you know who they are.” pic.twitter.com/VZ3WFsNgPi
— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) June 24, 2026
Several senators in the room have encountered newfound liberation after deciding to retire or seeing their careers cut short due to Trump-endorsed challengers.
Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who is among the retiring GOP lawmakers, got into a spat with his colleague Utah Sen. Mike Lee for echoing Trump’s calls to force a talking filibuster.
“I think it’s silly. All of it’s just goofy stuff,” Tillis said. “It’s like a remake of a bad movie that just keeps on getting released.”
Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was primaried by Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, remained completely silent during the lunch, according to a person familiar. Like some of his Senate colleagues, he instead teed off on the president while departing the lunch.
“The president closed by preaching unity, but he spent the entire hour talking about things which were not exactly unifying,” Cornyn told reporters.
The president, too, made his feelings known about some members of his party.
“We like everybody really in the room,” Trump said after the lunch. “I don’t like a few people, but that’s okay. I think you know who they are.”
The Daily Caller reached out to the communications staffs of Sens. Thune, McCormick, and Cassidy but did not hear back in time for publication.
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