President Donald Trump urged Ed Gallrein, a Kentucky Republican, on Friday to run against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) ahead of the Republican primary.
The development follows Trump’s threat to back a primary challenger against Massie after the rebel incumbent lawmaker bucked the White House on the president’s signature on the One Big Beautiful Bill, the Epstein files, Israel, and other matters.
This week, the president hailed Gallrein as “the person that will help us” defeat Massie, whom he described as a “third-rate Congressman” and “a Weak and Pathetic RINO.”
“[Massie] must be thrown out of office, ASAP! The incredible people of Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District gave us a mandate to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and the person that will help us do that is Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Fifth Generation Kentucky Farmer, Captain Ed Gallrein, a true America First Patriot,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social.
Gallrein has not yet entered the race, but he suggested earlier this year that he is more than open to such a possibility. Gallrein was backed by establishment GOP leaders when he ran last year for a seat in the Kentucky state Senate. He lost the three-way primary campaign to rival Aaron Reed, who won by under 200 votes.
The president’s fiery statement in Gallrein’s support comes after his allies launched a super PAC in June to prevent Massie from winning his 2026 reelection bid. The group has spent $1.8 million on independent expenditures, according to Politico.
While Massie, known as one of Congress’s only libertarians, has lost support from leading Republicans such as Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), any challenger faces a long road.
Massie’s campaign last month marked the best fundraising quarter of his career, raising $768,000 from July through September. And he’s won reelection multiple times since first assuming office in 2012, winning the 2024 GOP primary with 76% of the votes.
Massie has been critical of Trump this year on several matters, including the One Big Beautiful Bill, due to concerns that it raised the national debt. However, the Kentucky lawmaker has remained nuanced in his take on Trump, telling podcaster and comedian Theo Von earlier this year that “there’ll never be another person like him, particularly not one that becomes president.”
“I’ve been on his good side, and I’ve been on his bad side, and it seems like every couple years, it flips,” Massie told Von.
At the time, the congressman recounted how Trump called after his wife died last year, even though Massie had endorsed the president’s rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), in his race to win the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
“He left a really nice message of condolences, and that was thoughtful of him, and so it was, and that’s a side people don’t see, right?” Massie said. “I actually campaigned for Ron DeSantis, and Trump felt compelled to leave that message, even though I hadn’t endorsed him. It was a very thoughtful message.”
On Friday, Trump also issued a Truth Social message against one of Massie’s Kentucky colleagues, fellow libertarian Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
“He was never great, but he went really BAD! I got him elected, TWICE (in the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky!), but he just never votes positively for the Republican Party,” Trump railed. “He’s a nasty liddle’ guy, much like ‘Congressman’ Thomas Massie.”
It remains to be seen if Trump will support a primary challenge against Paul.
