Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks as Senate Republican leaders hold a press conference following their weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 16, 2026.
According to new reporting from NOTUS, frustrations are growing between the White House and Senate Republicans, who accuse President Donald Trump of blowing up their agenda with his relentless policy “landmines.”
“Trump has torpedoed what appeared to be nearly done deals, including most recently yanking his director of national intelligence nominee Jay Clayton from a fast-tracked confirmation hearing and hobbling an extension of a foreign intelligence gathering tool,” explains NOTUS. “And the president has primaried sitting senators he viewed as disloyal.” Because of all this, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is becoming frantic to secure some semblance of a policy win as experts warn that the Republican majority is imperiled in the upcoming midterms, now only a few months away. As one insider told NOTUS, “We take two steps forward, but then keep having to check to see if there are any landmines around.”
“Thune has about 50 things he wants to get done right now,” explained one Senate Republican. “I think his frustration is when we get stuck in a week and we’re not productive and we’re not able to actually move one of the many things that have got to move.”
According to NOTUS, “Thune’s frustration stems largely from the consistent derailing of the chamber’s agenda and the high-wire act of keeping an increasingly fractured conference united. Prime examples: The president’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund that almost tanked the second single-party measure that green-lighted border funds and the latest DNI and FISA rug-pullings.”
What’s more, based on conversations with GOP lawmakers, Senate aides, current and former administration officials, and people close to the president, not only has the relationship between Trump and Republican senators become “contentious,” says NOTUS, but there appears to be no way to fix it.
“Thune tells him what he needs to hear, and Johnson tells him what he wants to hear,” one source explained. “Right now, [Trump’s] in a ‘want to hear’ space.”
“Thune just happens to be the majority leader,” a senior White House official told NOTUS. “This is what happens when you’re in the big boy chair.”
For his part, Trump is frustrated by Republicans’ refusal to nuke the filibuster or fire the parliamentarian, the lack of progress on his demand for a voter ID bill, and a law that allows home-state senators to block judicial nominees. Or as one Senate Republican explained, it comes down to the fact that Trump has guardrails at all.
“He’s a CEO of companies. When you’re CEO of companies, you just say ‘this is what we’re going to do’ and the company does it,” said the Senator. “He gets frustrated with the judges because you can’t tell the judges what to do. He gets frustrated with the legislative branch. Same thing — you can’t compel it. You’ve got to be able to work with people and figure it out.”
According to sources, rank-and-file Republican Senators feel disrespected by a White House that “doesn’t care” about the approaching midterms.
“There hasn’t been enough of a heads-up when they’re going to do something, particularly the president, but I don’t really know if the president’s staff really knows that he’s going to be doing stuff,” said another Senate Republican. “We’re looking at these electoral numbers, and we all have to get on the same page here — quickly.”