Massie is one of the few remaining Republicans who has dared defy Trump in Congress, and the president took the unusual step of holding a rally in Massie's northern Kentucky district. He gleefully told the crowd, “I just can't stand this guy,” and called him “stupid” and a “disaster.”
“We’ve got to get rid of this loser,” said Trump, who has endorsed Massie’s challenger, Ed Gallrein, in Kentucky's primary on May 19.
The event felt like vintage Trump from his reelection bid in 2024 — so much so that he briefly called Gallrein, a farmer, business owner and retired Navy SEAL, to the stage. There, Gallrein declared, “Tom Massie stands with the ladies of ‘The View.’ Mr. President, we stand with you!”
Trump's swing began with a tour of Thermo Fisher Scientific in suburban Cincinnati. There, he discussed his administration's efforts to persuade major manufacturers to lower prescription medication prices so that they are closer to what is charged abroad.
“I used some very strong negotiating talent to get every single country to almost immediately approve,” he told reporters.
But the president also told reporters that what was happening in Iran was “an excursion that will keep us out of a war.” He added of Tehran, “for them, it’s a war. For us, it’s turned out to be easier than we thought.”
Later, at the Kentucky rally, Trump suggested the conflict wasn't about to end, saying, “We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job.”
He said that Iran was on the verge of rebuilding its nuclear capabilities, saying that fighting needed to continue so, “We don’t want to go back every two years.”
