Trump Has No Plans To Endorse In Final 3 Senate Races

There are three sitting Republican senators President Donald Trump has not endorsed for reelection. He has no imminent plans to change that.

Trump last week called for the electoral defeat of Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and four other GOP senators who backed a procedural vote to curb his military powers in Venezuela.

But Trump has no plans to endorse against her and is in no hurry to weigh in on the Texas and Louisiana GOP primaries, according to four people familiar with the White House’s thinking and granted anonymity to share it. Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana have publicly expressed hope for an endorsement in their races.

The strategy behind not endorsing in the three races is that Trump may still need their votes in the Senate and the White House is invested in keeping a Republican majority, even if it’s an imperfect one, according to three of those people. Though the president can change his mind and support a candidate via social media at a moment’s notice.

“It's math and the fear of mutually assured destruction,” one of the four people said. “The president doesn’t end their careers and these senators don’t end his congressional agenda.”

The president is furious at the growing number of Republicans who have defied him, highlighted last week by his harsh reaction to the war powers resolution. Less than two weeks into the new year, it was the latest pushback from congressional Republicans, including 17 House Republicans voting to save Obamacare subsidies and Republican senators unanimously agreeing to erect a plaque honoring officers who fought the mob on Jan. 6, 2021, in defiance of Trump’s false narrative of the events of that day. And on Monday, Senate Banking Committee member Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) threatened to block Trump’s expected new Federal Reserve Board chair in response to the DOJ probe into Chair Jerome Powell.

Still, there is little upside for Trump to take out his frustration on the Republicans who are on the ballot this fall and will determine control of Congress – and its subpoena power – in the back half of his term.

Collins is the only Republican up for reelection who supported the war powers measure. But, the White House and the National Republican Senatorial Committee have no plans to try to push her out of her seat and are running out of time to find a Republican to run against her in the June primary.

“No one is thinking, ‘this senator is going against the grain so it’s okay to lose that seat in November,’” said a Republican operative granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal dynamics. “At a certain point, these people have to vote with their districts and states. Moderates are majority makers and that’s why we’re a big tent party.”

Cassidy, who Trump accused of being “disloyal” and a “total flake” last year over his 2021 vote to convict the president for his role in fomenting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, also faces reelection in November without a Trump nod.

Cassidy has openly pushed back on some of the administration’s moves on health care. Last week, the Louisiana Republicancriticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for reducing the number of recommended childhood vaccines. But, he supported the confirmation of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., last year — a critical vote that put Kennedy’s nomination over the finish line.

Cassidy faces multiple GOP challengers but Trump has so far not weighed in on the race.

One of the people close to the White House said that if Trump were to endorse against one of the trio, it may be to back Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) if she runs against Cassidy. Trump likes her personally, the person said. Letlow, whose husband died from Covid shortly after his election to Congress in 2020, announced her engagement to Kevin Ainsworth, a Louisiana attorney, at the White House Christmas party in December, with the blessing of Trump, who said their engagement “transcends politics.”

But Letlow is not expected to jump in, according to two Republicans granted anonymity to disclose an unannounced decision. Letlow has flirted with getting into race for months -- and two other people cautioned that she had not made a final decision and still has time to jump in. Republicans believe Letlow wants an endorsement from Trump and senior White House officials have told Cassidy that Trump will remain neutral, a pledge first reported by POLITICO.

In Texas, Cornyn this year is on better terms with Trump, who previously called him a “RINO Republican” over his role in helping negotiate bipartisan gun safety legislation during former President Joe Biden’s term.

As the White House sees it, Trump now has three friends in the race, and Cornyn and his challengers — Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt — have leaned into being Trump loyalists throughout the primary, a dynamic that the White House is in no hurry to change.

Cornyn recently asked Trump for his endorsement, the senator told the Houston Chronicle, and Trump told Cornyn that he’s not ready to grant it.

“They need Cornyn on good behavior,” said a second Trump ally close to the White House granted anonymity to discuss the motivations.

“Senator Cornyn speaks to President Trump regularly and works closely with the White House,” Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiak said in an email. “He is proud to have voted 99.3% with President Trump while in office.”

Texas’s primary is seven weeks away but the White House has never been keen on involving itself in this particular contest.

Asked in November how the White House was thinking about the Texas race, White House deputy chief of staff James Blair told POLITICO, “Texas will definitely elect a Republican senator. Texas will be fine.”

While Cassidy, Collins and Cornyn are the only sitting Republican senators without a Trump endorsement, there are two House Republicans pursuing higher office that don’t have one, either.

In Georgia, Republican Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins are running in a Senate primary that includes former college football coach Derek Dooley, and the White House is not making any moves there yet, either.

The White House is opting to not weigh in, in part, because it cannot afford to upset either one of the GOP congressmen and risk losing their vote when Speaker Mike Johnson faces razor thin margins in the House.

“We’ve got a couple of friends in the race. We’ll have to see how it plays out. The president will weigh in when he’s ready,” Blair said.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.