LA GRANGE, Ky. — President Donald Trump and his political operation are working to unseat their first Republican incumbent: Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who drew Trump's wrath by saying the president lacked the authority to attack Iran's nuclear sites without congressional approval and voting against his massive tax and spending cuts bill.
Trump aides launched a new super PAC devoted to defeating Massie in his 2026 primary, Axios first reported. It is the first concerted effort by his team to unseat a sitting member of Congress and sends a clear signal to other Republicans that they cross Trump at their peril.
For the libertarian-leaning Kentucky congressman, the threats and social media barrage from Trump are nothing new. Massie was one of two House Republicans to vote against the tax-cut bill Trump wants on his desk by July 4. In 2020, he tried to stall a massive coronavirus aid package during Trump's first term.
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Massie also backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump in the 2024 GOP primary.
In recent days, he accused Trump of abandoning his campaign pledge to keep the U.S. out of war, and joined Democrats in introducing a resolution that would have required Congress to authorize any attacks on Iran.
The Republican president vowed to campaign against Massie in his GOP-dominated district, which stretches across the Bluegrass State's norther tier. And Trump will have backing.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., listens during an April 1 joint subcommittee hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Trump's political operation steps up
The new PAC, Kentucky MAGA, will be run by two of Trump's top political lieutenants, his former co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita and longtime pollster Tony Fabrizio.
They began planning the effort weeks ago and met with several potential challengers. They plan to rally behind a single candidate to avoid a repeat of past cycles when multiple challengers split the opposition vote and competed for the president's endorsement.
"If you want to be part of an effort to defeat Massie you will go through us. And the Trump political operation will run the campaign," LaCivita said Monday, adding that the group would spend "whatever it takes."
So far, Niki Lee Ethington, a registered nurse, said she will challenge Massie in the GOP primary next spring.
Massie deflected the onslaught with humor, replying in his own social media post that the president had "declared so much War on me today it should require an Act of Congress."
"I suspect the President isn't doing this out of spite for me, but instead to intimidate my colleagues into rubber stamping his actions," Massie told The Associated Press Monday in a statement. "He knows me well enough to know he's not changing my mind with these threats."
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on Saturday at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J.
A Kentucky conundrum
Until now, Trump declined to use his enormous war chest to target Republican incumbents, even as he voiced frustrations. It's been a change from the 2022 election cycle, when Trump aggressively targeted Republicans who voted to impeach him.
This time he is taking a more disciplined approach, cognizant of Republicans' extremely narrow majority in the House and the fact that a loss would imperil his agenda and risk miring him in more impeachments. To that end, the White House frowned on members giving up competitive seats to run for higher office, which could put those seats at risk.
Kentucky emerged as an unexpected thorn in Trump's side.
The president dominated every presidential election since 2016 in the bright red state. Republicans captured the Kentucky House in 2016 by riding Trump's coattails, completing a full takeover of the Kentucky legislature.
But he repeatedly clashed with some of their lawmakers in Washington, including Sen. Rand Paul, who is also a critic of the spending bill and has railed against Trump's tariffs, as well former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom he viciously attacked.
Voter reaction
It remains unclear whether Trump's attacks will be effective. Massie — known for going his own way in Congress — remains enormously popular in his conservative district and fended off primary challengers in the past.
In downtown La Grange on Monday, Trump's latest attack didn't seem to be gaining much traction.
Republican voter Donna Williamson said Massie's willingness to stand up to Trump over Iran only strengthens her support for him.
"He's speaking out and saying what he believes is true, even when it makes him unpopular," she said, "which means I've got my ear on him. I'm listening to him."
Massie supporter Rob Houchens, a Republican businessman, called the congressman "a man of principle" and said, "I believe his principles are in alignment with me and many other of his constituents."
"And I can't think that it would change one iota of how we would vote," he added.
Polling suggests voters are split on how Congress should approach Trump. About 6 in 10 registered voters say they would like to see Republicans in Congress do "more to check" the president, according to a June Quinnipiac poll.
That sentiment isn't shared by many Republican voters. Only about 16% say they want lawmakers in their party to stand up to Trump more, while about 8 in 10 want them to do "more to help" him.
Still, a majority of Republicans say congressional Republicans do not have an obligation to support Trump's policies and programs if they disagree with him, according to a Pew Research Center Poll conducted earlier this year.
