{"id":23318,"date":"2026-05-27T08:47:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T08:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/donald-trumps-revenge-tour-might-not-end-in-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T08:47:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T08:47:41","slug":"donald-trumps-revenge-tour-might-not-end-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/donald-trumps-revenge-tour-might-not-end-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump\u2019s revenge tour might not end in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Donald Trump just ousted another Republican he viewed as insufficiently loyal. Two years from now, his revenge list could be even longer.<\/p>\n

The president has already lashed out at two House Republicans due to perceived slights, with the White House floating a longer list of potential targets over the past year. Trump could also take aim at several GOP senators up for reelection in 2028 \u2014 including Alaska\u2019s Lisa Murkowski, Kentucky\u2019s Rand Paul and Indiana\u2019s Todd Young \u2014 as he seeks to make a lasting mark on the Republican Party in the final stretch of his presidency.<\/p>\n

The prospect that Trump\u2019s much-ballyhooed \u201crevenge tour<\/a>\u201d could continue into another election cycle was underscored by his late decision to endorse against Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his renomination bid Tuesday night to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n

Cornyn backed Trump in January 2024<\/a> and went to great lengths to win Trump’s favor once Trump secured the 2024 Republican nomination for president \u2014 after initially running lukewarm<\/a> on his comeback bid. Trump\u2019s decision to seek retribution anyway, some believe, could lead other GOP lawmakers to think twice about running for another term rather than mount a grueling and potentially futile bid for renomination.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at all of them that are up in 2028 \u2026 do they think about retiring?\u201d asked one Republican senator who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about colleagues who have previously broken with the president.<\/p>\n

Others think it\u2019s too soon to tell \u2014 especially if Trump\u2019s moves to drum out more establishment-minded Republicans backfire in the November midterms.<\/p>\n

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who is leaving office at the end of this year, said in an interview that he \u201ccould see\u201d some of his colleagues retiring rather than risk a Trump-fueled primary challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I also think \u2026 he\u2019s not going to carry the same weight in the 2028 election cycle, particularly if we\u2019ve lost one or both chambers in 2026,\u201d Tillis said of Trump. \u201cSo I think these members ought to be who they are. Period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about the 2028 races, the White House pointed back to Trump\u2019s Truth Social post endorsing Paxton over Cornyn, which does not address future races. Trump, in that post, said Cornyn was \u201cnot supportive of me when times were tough\u201d and \u201cwas very late in backing me\u201d in 2024.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s appetite for revenge also hasn\u2019t been entirely consistent. Some congressional Republicans who were asking questions about Trump’s e fitness all the way back to the launch of his first presidential campaign in 2015 have managed to skate by.<\/p>\n

That includes Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. She was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict Trump of an impeachment charge in 2021 but has largely escaped the president\u2019s wrath as she tries to hold onto her seat in a Democratic-leaning state. Trump has also thrown his support behind Sen. Mike Rounds, despite once calling the South Dakotan a \u201cjerk\u201d he would never endorse again.<\/p>\n

Trump hasn\u2019t made any specific 2028 primary endorsements yet as he keeps focus squarely on 2026.<\/p>\n

But he threatened to back a challenger to Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert earlier this month over her support for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who fell this month to a Trump-backed primary opponent \u2014 even though the filing deadline for Boebert\u2019s 2026 primary has already passed.<\/p>\n

He also took a whack at Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick last week \u2014 a day after the Pennsylvania Republican advanced past his uncontested primary for a sixth term representing a swingy suburban Philadelphia seat.<\/p>\n

But the real fireworks could come in 2028 Senate primaries, which could feature several of Trump\u2019s most persistent critics.<\/p>\n

Three GOP senators up next cycle \u2014 Murkowski, Paul and Young \u2014 caught a tongue-lashing from the president earlier this year after they were among five Republicans who voted to advance a resolution that would have prevented the administration from taking additional military action against Venezuela. In addition to angry phone calls to the lawmakers at the time, Trump called them out in a Truth Social post<\/a> where he said they \u201cshould never be elected to office again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also up for reelection in 2028: Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who has generally enjoyed a positive relationship with Trump during his second presidential term but faces potential potholes ahead.<\/p>\n

Trump, for instance, has shown no sign of backing off his attempt to eliminate the Senate filibuster, even as Thune publicly insists there aren’t the votes to do so. Thune also acknowledged last week<\/a> that Trump\u2019s effort to unseat incumbents would make advancing the GOP\u2019s legislative agenda \u201cslightly more complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul, meanwhile, has been a perennial gadfly for his party on everything from last year\u2019s megabill to routine spending votes and the Iran war, where he has repeatedly backed efforts to curb the president\u2019s ability to take military action without congressional signoff. Like Boebert, he was an outspoken backer of Massie\u2019s reelection campaign.<\/p>\n

Asked about his own history with Trump, Paul has batted down the notion his seat might be at risk \u2014 including after another GOP doctor-turned-senator, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, lost his bid for renomination this month.\u201cI was a big defender of the president on impeachment, so I think there\u2019s quite a bit of difference,\u201d Paul told reporters, referring to Cassidy\u2019s 2021 conviction vote.<\/p>\n

Fellow Republicans are closely watching both Murkowski and Young ahead of 2028 \u2014 whether either gets a primary challenger, or runs again at all.<\/p>\n

Young is gearing up to run for reelection. But at least one possible primary challenger is publicly eying the race<\/a>, and Rep. Erin Houchin is among others who are thought to be looking at a run.<\/p>\n

Houchin heartily backed Trump\u2019s effort to oust eight Republicans in the Indiana state Senate who helped kill a GOP redistricting plan earlier this year, joining their primary challengers when they visited the White House before the state’s May primary. She also raised eyebrows recently when she hired the MAGA-aligned consultant Chris Grant, who rarely works on House races these days, for her reelection campaign.<\/p>\n

Trump didn\u2019t endorse Young during his 2022 race<\/a>, where he ran unopposed in the primary. And in the lead-up to the 2024 election, Young said he didn\u2019t support Trump as the party\u2019s nominee.<\/p>\n

But Young has also positioned himself as a team player during Trump\u2019s second term, voting for the president\u2019s nominees and major pieces of his agenda. Young ultimately flipped on the Venezuela resolution, voting to kill it after getting assurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other Trump administration officials.<\/p>\n

Still, Young and Trump have managed to keep things civil. Young flew on Air Force One with Trump and other lawmakers in March and Trump recognized him alongside Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan at a recent White House event as “good senators” and “great guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murkowski, meanwhile, is the only Senate Republican up for reelection in 2028 who voted to convict Trump on an impeachment charge of having \u201cincited an insurrection\u201d in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol by a mob of the president\u2019s supporters.<\/p>\n

Trump hasn\u2019t shied away from criticizing Murkowski \u2014 calling her and Tillis<\/a> \u201cterrible senators\u201d and saying that Murkowski \u201cshould be gone.\u201d He has also backed an effort to eliminate Alaska\u2019s all-party, ranked-choice voting system, which helped Murkowski edge out another Republican in 2022. He thanked other state-level Republicans and members of Alaska\u2019s congressional delegation, but not Murkowski, in a recent Truth Social post<\/a> related to the effort.<\/p>\n

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is among those thought to be considering a challenge. Responding to a Fox News report<\/a> last year that he would jump into the 2028 race, a spokesperson said at the time that \u201cGovernor Dunleavy is focused on moving Alaska forward during the remainder of his second term.\u201d Other Republicans cautioned that they thought the report was a trial balloon for the governor, who is leaving office at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Murkowski provided a key vote to help pass last year\u2019s tax-cuts-focused GOP megabill and has voted for Trump\u2019s Cabinet nominees, though not Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But she has also been one of the Senate Republicans most willing to push back publicly against Trump\u2019s agenda, including helping kill the GOP Obamacare repeal plan during his first term. She voted against advancing Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement bill and a GOP election measure earlier this year and frequently speaks out against Trump\u2019s efforts to eliminate the filibuster.<\/p>\n

Asked how she has survived Trump\u2019s wrath so far, Murkowski said she has stayed focused on home-state issues, like the revamping of the federal polar icebreaking fleet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s what I think about,\u201d she told reporters after Trump endorsed against Cornyn. \u201cI don’t get caught up in, \u2018Does the president love me today or hate me today?\u2019 If I did, I would be a crazy woman, and I’m not a crazy woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam Wren contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump just ousted another Republican he viewed as insufficiently loyal. Two years from now, his revenge list could be even longer. The president has already lashed out at two House Republicans due to perceived slights, with the White House floating a longer list of potential targets over the past year. Trump could also take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}