GOP Senate leader has two-words to describe Trump's prospects there

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) walks to the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 13, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

President Donald Trump has struggled to pass his legislative agenda in the Senate due to his insistence that Republican leaders there pass his SAVE America Act, a voter suppression bill he hopes will help him in the 2026 midterm elections. Yet according to the Senate Majority leader, Trump’s actions have held up legislation to an unacceptable degree — and he had a two-word insult to sum up his sentiments.

“The Senate is making some progress toward breaking its pre-recess logjam,” USA Today's Zachary Schermele reported on Wednesday. “Between confirming Todd Blanche, passing a government funding stopgap, advancing a college athletics bill and more, there remains much on the agenda. This morning, amid GOP disagreements about a number of things stalling the legislative sprint, Thune was sounding less than optimistic.”

Schermele then quoted Thune.

“It's a bit of a train wreck, isn't it?” Thune said according to Schermele. The South Dakotan later described his comparison as "probably a little extreme," adding that "it's just a series of things that are sort of piled up.”

This is not the first time that Thune has vented his frustration with Trump. The lawmaker has repeatedly said that there simply are not enough votes in the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act and that Trump’s demands are therefore politically unrealistic. Trump in turn has claimed that by not passing the SAVE America Act, Thune is making it possible for Democrats to retake that legislative body in the upcoming midterm elections. Until Thune passes the SAVE America Act, Trump has opposed allowing other legislative priorities to be addressed.

In July, when Trump called for Thune to be replaced as Senate Majority Leader because of his inability to push through the SAVE America Act, Thune had a clapback for the president.

"Alright,” Thune said. “Well, that’s nice of him. I GUESS. I don’t know what do you say on that. That’s a decision that’s made by my colleagues!"

Roll Call's Savannah Behrmann recently explained the dilemma facing Thune.

“For Majority Leader John Thune, the equation is not new: The math isn’t mathing, and there has never been enough support in his conference to establish a new precedent and lower the 60-vote hurdle most bills must clear to advance to a simple majority threshold,” Behrmann wrote. “Those numbers are hardly a secret, but some are reluctant to take a public stance when it means defying the party’s president. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told Politico this summer that more Republicans oppose the so-called nuclear option than are willing to say so. ‘I regret that the other 25 or 30 people who oppose blowing up the filibuster don’t say it out loud like I do, because it leaves the impression that there are only four or five of us, just enough so that he doesn’t have 51,’ Cramer said.”

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