Trump heads to Kentucky in an aggressive effort to topple a foe: GOP Rep. Thomas Massie

President Trump will venture to northern Kentucky on Wednesday in a forceful effort to topple a sitting Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), who has emerged as the president’s most vocal GOP antagonist in the Capitol.

Trump is scheduled to visit a packaging plant in Hebron in Massie’s 4th Congressional District, where the president has endorsed Massie’s primary opponent, Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL officer who’s vowing to stick by Trump and “deliver America First results for Kentucky.”

The visit comes amid the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran, which are shaping up to be a potent issue in the race after Massie voted last week in opposition to Trump’s unilateral strikes — a lonely position in a GOP conference where only one other Republican crossed the aisle to demand that Trump get congressional approval to continue the operations.

The Kentucky primary, slated for May 19, is being closely watched as a gauge of Trump’s continued grip on the GOP at a time when he’s facing low approval ratings, a tough midterm cycle when he’s not on the ballot, and internal accusations that he’s abandoned the “America First” pledge that swept him back into office.

Massie, perhaps more than any other Republican in Congress, has been forceful in airing those criticisms. And he’s not letting up just because the primary is getting closer.

“The price of gas has gone up $0.47 and the price of diesel has gone up $0.83 in 10 days due to War with Iran,” Massie posted this week on the social platform X.

“This isn’t America First.”

Massie, a conservative iconoclast with a libertarian lean, is no stranger to internal challenges, having easily fended off primary contenders in each of the past three cycles. But his willingness to break with GOP leaders has grown only more pronounced throughout Trump’s return to office over the past year, when he’s jousted with the White House over some of the biggest issues in Washington. That list includes Trump’s tariffs, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and Iran.

That track record has infuriated Trump, who is well known for demanding loyalty and going after anyone who doesn’t provide it. It’s also made Massie public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the MAGA faithful, and Gallrein is seen as the most formidable threat to Massie’s seat since he first won it in 2012.

Trump is doing everything he can to make sure Massie is shown the exit.

Trump, before endorsing Gallrein, had handpicked him to enter the contest. A number of outside groups associated with Trump have spent heavily on the race. On Truth Social, the president has gone after Massie relentlessly, calling him a “moron,” the “worst Republican” in Washington and a “pathetic RINO.” (In the same taunting vein, he’s also gone after Massie’s wife). And this week, in the wake of Massie’s vote against the Iran strikes, Trump will take that feud directly into the district to stump for Gallrein in a test of his continued influence over Republican primary voters.

Heading into the visit, some House Republicans offered sideways praise of Massie for his consistency in promoting a set of principles. But those same voices also defended Trump’s decision to go after the seven-term maverick, saying Massie has invited the blowback by bucking the president on some of his top priorities.

“I believe that Thomas Massie believes what he believes. [But] much of what he believes that’s contrary to the president of the United States and our leadership, I don’t agree with,” said Rep. Mark Alford (R-Mo.). “And the president has every right to — you know, he’s built a pretty big war chest, and he’s made it known that he’s going to use that to get members in Congress who are going to vote the America First agenda.

“And I’m supportive of that.”

Massie, through it all, has remained defiant, arguing that he’s merely trying to hold Trump to the promises he made during the 2024 campaign.

He said he voted against Trump’s big tax cut package, for instance, because it piles trillions of dollars onto deficit spending, contrary to Trump’s vows to reduce the national debt. He says he’s championed the release of the Epstein files not only on behalf of Epstein’s victims, but also the millions of voters who believed Trump would release them on his own. And in opposing the Iran conflict, he was not only reasserting Congress’s powers to declare war, but making good on Trump’s promise to avoid any more “forever wars” in the Middle East and shift those scarce resources to domestic problems instead.

“Most people will give me a pass when they see that I’m carrying out the promises that were made during the election, even if I’m not 100 percent on track with whatever is happening that day in Congress that [Speaker] Mike Johnson (R-La.) wants,” he told local news recently.

Still, Massie’s record of challenging Trump is long and growing.

In 2021, he was among the minority of House Republicans who did not vote to overturn Trump’s 2020 defeat to former President Biden. In 2024, Massie was among a small handful of House Republicans who endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump in the GOP presidential primary.

Last summer, he was one of just two Republicans to oppose the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Last fall, he was instrumental in forcing the Epstein bill to the floor over Trump’s objections. Last month, he was one of just six Republicans to oppose Trump’s tariffs on Canada. And last week, he and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) were the lone GOP defectors on the Iran war powers vote.

In Trump’s GOP, that rebellious streak carries plenty of risks.

The president, despite sinking national numbers, still commands a devout following in the deep red districts that most House Republicans represent. And he’s been successful in toppling other high-profile Republicans who broke with him on big issues, including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who lost her primary to a Trump ally, and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who quit Congress at the start of this year.

Massie is acknowledging that his clashes with the president, particularly on Iran, have made this primary race much tougher than those before it. But he said he retains confidence that voters will reward his independent streak in a district where he’s an established brand.

“I feel confident that I’ve got the constitutional position right,” Massie told The New York Times this week. “And I’m hopeful that the politics will follow later.”

Sudiksha Kochi contributed.

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