Trump continues lambasting incumbent Republican Thomas Massie as challenger files to enter race

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President Donald Trump on Monday continued trashing GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, targeting the incumbent lawmaker for ouster in a Truth Social post while seeking to boost challenger Ed Gallrein, the former Navy SEAL he backed for the congressional seat last year.

The president, who referred to Massie as "the Worst ‘Republican’ Congressman we have had in many years," said that Gallrein "officially filed to run for Congress" on Monday.

"I have heard that there are other Candidates exploring a run for this seat, but I am asking all MAGA Warriors to rally behind Captain Ed Gallrein, the Candidate who is, far and away, best positioned to DEFEAT Third Rate Congressman Thomas Massie, a Weak and Pathetic RINO from the beautiful Commonwealth of Kentucky, a place I love, and won BIG, ALL THREE TIMES," the president asserted.

HOUSE GOP CRITICS BREAK WITH TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA OPERATION THAT CAPTURED MADURO

Left: U.S. President Donald Trump during a news conference at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., U.S., on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026; Right: Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., attends the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Nicole Combeau/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Massie has been a critic of Trump's move to depose Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro. 

"Wake up MAGA. VENEZUELA is not about drugs; it’s about OIL and REGIME CHANGE. This is not what we voted for," Massie asserted in a post on X.

But Trump noted in his Truth Social post that Gallrein "is a big fan of our recent attack on Nicolas Maduro, the Dictator of Venezuela."

THESE HOUSE MAVERICKS DEFIED THEIR OWN PARTIES MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN 2025

Nicolás Maduro is seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed Federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on Jan. 5, 2026 in New York City. (XNY/Star Max/GC Images via Getty Images )

The president claimed that Massie "only votes AGAINST the Republican Party, making life very easy for the Radical Left," asserting, "Unlike ‘lightweight’ Congressman Massie, a true hater of Israel, and a totally ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly, CAPTAIN ED GALLREIN IS A WINNER WHO WILL NOT LET KENTUCKY DOWN!"

Massie solicited campaign donations while highlighting Trump's attack against him.

PATRIOT OR ‘PATHETIC RINO’? MAVERICK REPUBLICAN THOMAS MASSIE TRADES ‘AMERICA FIRST’ LABEL FOR ‘AMERICA ONLY’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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"It happened again today! Why do I get attacked weekly? Because I’m the only Republican who refuses to rubber stamp foreign aid, endless deficits, and unnecessary wars. I’m also exposing sex traffickers. My primary is in May. Please help if you can," he wrote in a post on X, adding a link where people can donate.