He is bolstering it at home, just as President Donald Trump appears to have suspended in a major conflict in the Middle East.
Rep. Thomas Massey (R-KY.) is a major target for the president’s powerful political campaign, seeking to expel outspoken lawmakers in the GOP primary next year.
The House of Representatives have been thorny on the president’s side in the past, but Massie’s latest threat Introducing the resolution The aim of suppressing the power of the Presidential War is already happening as Trump is already watching Massey’s multiple attempts to block the “big, beautiful bill” ahead of the Republican voluntary July 4 deadline.
Massy has easily beaten the challenges before, including large sums of money from pro-Israel donors. But this time, the six-term lawmaker’s strong, independent political brand may not be able to stand the blitz that the president’s allies appear ready to unleash. Not only has Trump vowed to a “really hard” campaign against Massey next year, but he also launched a Super PAC, whose political tactics are dedicated to defeating Kentucky.
“He’s probably more vulnerable than he won the primary for the first time because of all this,” said Adam Koenig, a GOP strategist and former Kentucky Assemblyman.
Trump’s political device began to step up efforts to launch Massey after he voted against the party’s massive tax and spending priorities on the president’s domestic policy priorities when he first walked through the house last month. It was revealed in that plan – a Super Pack Magazine called the Kentucky Magazine led by two of the president’s most trusted members, Chris Lacivita and poller Tony Fabrizio First reported by Axios – Massy urged him to reaffirm Congressional authority over Trump’s military actions in Iran.
“He established himself as a paradox for the opposite,” Lacivita said in a text message to Politico. “He should be human and switch parties, not posing as a Republican.”
The president and his advisors have been sinisterly attacking Massy on social media recently, with Trump abandoning Massy the “loser” Massy and “remove this ‘butt’ out of the office.”
Trump and Massey had a controversial relationship dating back to their first term of office when he pushed for “throwing Massey from the Republican Party” after the Kentucky Republican was built. Trump’s Covid-19 Relief Package In March 2020, Trump later approved Massey’s 2022 re-election bid, and Massey supported Trump in 2024, after first supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the presidential primary.
But now that Trump has returned to his oval office, Massey has tried to cripple the president’s legislative agenda multiple times. Only Republicans who vote against it The government’s funding bill suspended in March. Unlike in the past, the president appears to be doing good things about his threat of letting Massy out of the workplace by placing a super PAC in the case.
“I think there’s a real opportunity… they’ll spend over $30 million to beat Thomas Massey,” said a Kentucky GOP political operative, who was given anonymity to discuss sensitive content issues, as did many people interviewed for the story.
operatives who didn’t vote for Trump have heard that one of the most prominent pro-Israel groups, AIPAC, is also ready to spend a massive time in the May 2026 Kentucky primary. Some Republican strategists estimate that total spending could reach $45 million. This is unprecedented in a major contest in the Fourth Council District. (The only spending on Massie in last year’s primary was about $320,000 from AIPAC’s Super PAC, United Democracy Project.)
Even speaker Mike Johnson hedged on Tuesday whether he would support Massie next year.
“I certainly understand the president’s frustration,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “Every time you’re here, wearing one team jersey and voting for another team, people start to question.
However, Massie appears to be outraged by the election threats of Trump and his allies.
“In 2020, I got Trump’s antibodies from a natural infection when he followed me and I survived,” Massey murmurped a reporter Tuesday. “If he doesn’t succeed, it will drain his political capital, and he knows it. So it has to be part of his calculus.”
In fact, Massy accepts the fight. On Twitter, he Teased an interview with Podcaster Theophoneindications that he is trying to widen his exposure in a format that supports Hawk’s unique brand of Massy’s isolating budget. He is funding for social media sparring with Trump, telling Hill reporters he raised about $120,000 in 24 hours on Monday evening.
And he has pledged to advance his resolution of war power if the ceasefire between Iran and Israel is not maintained, and in a television interview, and to a reporter at Hill, “it’s not clear that the war is over.”
Overcoming the main threat is the exact question of what Trump’s alliance candidates keep in mind running against incumbents. Some believe Sen. Aaron Reed, already a retired naval seal and gun shop owner who is rarely seen without a cowboy hat, is already a challenger. Another option is state legislator Kimberly Moser. He is not traditionally considered a magazine, but has invaded the party’s Trump wing for many years. There are potential outsiders, like political critic Scott Jennings and former governor candidate Kelly Kraft, who may have the means to self-fund their campaigns.
“I think it’s too early to know if he’s total opposition to what Trump did, and I think that’s pretty scary. [Massie’s] “We’re a great leader in our lives,” said Ellen Williams, former chairman of Kentucky’s GOP. I think it will spark him. ”
Members of the Kentucky Congressional delegation run along the north border along Ohio and Indiana, and Massey’s vast district, from the suburbs of Cincinnati to the band outside the Louisville Metro area, is a unique cross section of the state that appears to enjoy Massey’s independent streak.
There are some of the most prominent members of the “liberal faction” of the Kentucky Republican Party. This is a group that embraces Trump, attracting libertarian Republicans like Massie and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. The senators survived a barrage of attacks from Trump on Tuesday as they opposed Megaville and defended Massie in politics.
Massey is “very popular in Kentucky,” Paul said. “I’ll continue to support him.”
“His districts are different,” Senator James Comer, a fellow Kentucky Republican, said Tuesday on Capitol Hill, but he refused to shave the conflict between Massey and Trump. “It’s a unique council district.”
Former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson believes Trump may be overestimating his hand when it comes to Massey’s district as much as he is the uncontroversial leader of the Republican Party.
“Trump is popular in Republican politics, as popular as Trump is in Kentucky, and just as Trump is in District 4, Thomas won those arguments over Trump when it comes to policy,” Grayson said. “Until someone sees stepping up, Thomas is still pretty formidable.”
He also warned of Trump’s impact. If representatives can dodge key challenges, they can open the floodgates for others who have private concerns about the president’s actions.
“If Massy overcomes this, it will make a difference,” Grayson added. “If he wins, if you’re a member, you’re likely to make a statement in the future.”
Massie has never been seriously at risk with the GOP primary. His nearest major contest came when he defeated state representative Alesia Webb Eddington in 2012 and took over retired Rep. Jeff Davis with about 7,000 votes. In subsequent major contests, Massy won the otherwise low-revolving primary, winning by more than 60% of the vote.
Many operatives believe Trump needs to juice major voter turnout to succeed in his quest to defeat Massie. He warned that Trump’s popularity could change considerably in 11 months.
Massy was factual about his previous challenges when addressing reporters Tuesday afternoon.
“If he goes to the race, I have to spend more money,” Massey said. He then laid out a pair of scenarios. It supports someone, and supports the support, as the president did before. He floated another thing that Trump’s allies had dumped a lot of money and foundations, but only abolished the efforts.
“They’re going to try and talk to someone in the race… they’ll tell them that Trump’s support is coming, then they’ll wait to see if they can get close, and if they can get close, Trump might come in.” “If that person can’t, they’ll leave the person hanging on the bone.”
Corrected: This article originally misunderstood the title of Aaron Reed.
