Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is pushing back hard against President Donald Trump after Trump attacked him on Truth Social, with Tillis saying he’ll “have a lot of fun” during his final months in office and arguing the president is backing policies he calls “stupid
When President Donald Trump came at Sen. Thom Tillis with a harsh message on Truth Social Friday morning, it didn’t land in a vacuum. Tillis had already been stepping into public fights with the White House—most recently over a new Justice Department “Anti-Weaponization Fund” tied to a tax-return dispute—while also making clear he’s in his last stretch in politics.
Tillis, who has held the North Carolina Senate seat since 2014, announced he would not seek re-election. In the months since. he has been increasingly outspoken. including criticizing Trump’s shifting support inside the Republican ranks—after Trump backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in a bitterly fought Texas Senate primary runoff.
Even before the Paxton endorsement was official, Tillis had blasted Trump for backing off from a reported initial plan to endorse Cornyn, calling it a mistake and warning that Republicans allowing their internecine feud to continue was “lazy and unstrategic.”
The latest spark between Tillis and Trump is the “Anti-Weaponization Fund. ” a move the Department of Justice announced last week as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit Trump. his sons. and the Trump Organization filed against the IRS for leaking their tax returns. Supporters frame it as a way to resolve that fight; critics call it something else.
Several objections have been raised. including concerns that Trump. as president. is both the plaintiff in the lawsuit and the person overseeing the defendant government agencies. Critics also argue the fund would purport to distribute money without congressional approval. Another flashpoint is the idea that January 6 rioters—people who were pardoned by Trump—are seeking a share of the funds. including individuals who assaulted law enforcement officers.
In an interview with a local reporter. Tillis called the idea “stupid on stilts. ” arguing it was “absurd” that the fund would “invariably put us in a position where your taxpayers dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer. admitted their guilt. got convicted. got pardoned and now we are going to pay them for that.”.
“The American people are going to reject this out of hand,” Tillis added. “When you take money from me to give to a purpose that I vehemently disagree with, that’s tyranny, and that’s what that account is.”
He repeated the “stupid on stilts” line on CNN Thursday, saying “These people don’t deserve restitution” and that many “deserve to be in prison.” He also warned that moving forward with the fund would harm Republicans in the November midterm elections.
“There’s not one positive thing that could be spun out of this between now and November,” Tillis said. “This is bad policy. It’s bad timing, and it’s bad politics.”
Trump didn’t take that criticism quietly. A few hours later Friday. he unleashed on Tillis in a Truth Social post. calling him “weak and ineffective. ” accusing him of being a “QUITTER” who “didn’t have the courage” to run again for re-election. and branding him a “Nitpicker” who is “always fighting against the Republican Party. and ME. mostly on things that didn’t matter.”.
Trump then closed with a message that sounded less like a dismissal than a challenge: “Now he can have all the fun he wants for a few months, with some of his RINO friends, screwing the Republican Party, In the end it will only get bigger, and better, and stronger, than ever before!!!”
Tillis replied hours later on Twitter, meeting the president’s tone with his own—agreeing with the “fun” line while using it to sharpen the dispute. “Mr. President, completely agree about having a lot of fun over these next seven months,” he wrote.
Then came the counterpunch: Tillis pushed back on Trump’s portrayal of him as a mere nitpicker, saying advisors are telling Trump to support policies that Tillis described as “stupid stuff.” He listed several examples and tied them to names he identified in the post:
— “Using billions of taxpayer dollars to compensate convicted felons and thugs who attacked police. (Ed Martin)”
— “Pushing 50-year mortgages and Elizabeth Warren’s housing bill over sound conservative housing policy. (Bill Pulte)”
— “Using taxpayer money to transform publicly traded companies into state-owned enterprises. (Howard Lutnick)”
— “Firing our very best generals and not holding Putin accountable for his systematic kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of Ukrainian civilians. (Pete Hegseth)”
“If opposing these things makes me a RINO, then I gladly accept that nickname,” Tillis wrote. “We need Republicans to do well in November, but the stupid stuff is killing our chances!”
Thom Tillis Donald Trump Truth Social Anti-Weaponization Fund Department of Justice IRS Trump Organization lawsuit Ken Paxton John Cornyn Mitch McConnell North Carolina Senate election 2026