Trump Campaigns Against Top Republican Behind Epstein Files Push

Donald Trump is pulling out all of the stops to get rid of one of his only Republican critics. 

The president is traveling to Kentucky Wednesday to campaign against Representative Thomas Massie, who not only voted against Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” but has also been a thorn in Trump’s side over the Jeffrey Epstein files and the Iran war. 

Trump is visiting Hebron, Kentucky, just outside of Cincinnati, ostensibly to talk about the economy, but it just so happens to be in Massie’s district. Ahead of the visit, Trump doubled down on his endorsement of Massie’s primary opponent, farmer and former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein. Meanwhile, a super PAC aligned with the president has already spent $2.6 million on the race.  

In a Truth Social post Wednesday morning, Trump mocked Massie, making a prediction that “‘Representative’ Thomas Massie will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress.” Massie responded on X with a sarcastic prediction of his own, noting how Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

I predict “President” DJT will begrudgingly sign my beautiful Epstein Files Transparency Act, causing beleaguered princes and ambassadors and prime ministers and CEOs around the world to be arrested or resign in total shame. Oh wait, that already happened.https://t.co/AgJY01IWPL pic.twitter.com/ZzGcDBJdOz

— Thomas Massie for Congress (@MassieforKY) March 11, 2026

Trump’s feud with Massie goes back months, and he’s hoping that he can single-handedly convince the conservatives in Kentucky’s fourth congressional district, a safe Republican seat. But Massie has endured Trump’s threats and withstood a highly funded attempt by pro-Israel interests to unseat him in 2024. 

Those same interests have gotten involved in this race, with the Republican Jewish Committee Victory Fund producing an ad presenting the primary contest as a choice between “Gallrein and Trump or Massie, who stands with Iran.” The ad shows Massie alongside Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and Democratic Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who happen to be Muslims. Will that plus Trump’s efforts be enough to unseat Massie?