'Break a promise': GOP senator swore at Trump in heated exchange over bill

Editor's note: This headline has been updated.

In a late-night showdown last weekend, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) flatly refused President Donald Trump’s plea to advance the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” biting back with profanity, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

The report says that around 8 PM on Saturday, Trump personally phoned Tillis, urging him to reverse his stance. But Tillis, having meticulously outlined how the bill’s Medicaid provisions would imperil both vulnerable constituents and the party’s fragile House majority, did not budge.

When Trump pressed him to vote yes, Tillis ultimately told the president, “I can’t f------- do that,” per the report.

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The North Carolina Republican was reportedly frustrated by GOP leaders’ rejection of his pleas to ease the Medicaid reductions, and cast his no vote around 7:30 p.m. Saturday as the Senate debated whether to proceed with the party’s sweeping tax-and-spend package.

“The people in the White House advising the president are not telling him that the effect of this bill is to break a promise,” he said, per the report.

Leaders kept the vote open into the night, pressing reluctant members, including Tillis, to change course.

The Journal further reported that in the wake of their phone confrontation, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to criticize Tillis, accusing him of angling for publicity ahead of a tough re‑election and warning that North Carolina wouldn’t support such behavior.

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Trump wrote: “North Carolina will not allow one of their Senators to GRANDSTAND in order to get some publicity for himself, for a possible, but very difficult Re‑Election,” and added, “Thom Tillis is making a BIG MISTAKE for America, and the Wonderful People of North Carolina!”

Just six minutes later, Tillis replied directly to the president via text, saying, “Ack Mr. President… Start thinking about my replacement.”

According to the report, Trump responded by 11:52 p.m. with a blunt “I am!”

By that point, the Republicans had secured the procedural vote on the legislation without Tillis’s support. He formally announced his retirement from the Senate the following afternoon.

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In a statement released Sunday afternoon, Tillis said, “In Washington over the last few years, it’s become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species.”

He continued: "As many of my colleagues have noticed over the last year, and at times even joked about, I haven’t exactly been excited about running for another term. That is true since the choice is between spending another six years navigating the political theatre and partisan gridlock in Washington or spending that time with the love of my life Susan, our two children, three beautiful grandchildren, and the rest of our extended family back home. It’s not a hard choice, and I will not be seeking re‑election.”