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Trump slams Thomas Massie at Kentucky rally bolstering support for the Iran war

‘We don’t want to leave early. We want to finish the job and not have to return in two years,’ Trump said

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

President Donald Trump speaks on stage at Verst Logistics on March 11, 2026 in Hebron, Kentucky.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States has “won” the war in Iran, while warning that U.S. forces will continue the military operation until they “finish the job.”

Trump made the comments while discussing his administration’s efforts to reduce oil prices amid the war in Iran at a campaign rally in Hebron, Ky., on Wednesday to support Ed Gallrein, his endorsed candidate to take on anti-Israel and isolationist Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the contentious primary between the two men. 

Trump noted that the International Energy Agency had “agreed to coordinate the release of a record 400 billion barrels of oil from various national petroleum reserves around the world, which will substantially reduce the oil prices as we end this threat to America and this threat to the world,” prompting him to then ask the crowd: “We don’t want to leave early, do we? We’ve got to finish the job.”

“After [Operation] Midnight Hammer [in June 2025], we left. We figured that’ll be the end of them for a while. But they started again. That’s why we gotta finish it,” Trump said. “We don’t want to go back every two years, and that’s because there will be some day when you don’t have me as president.”

“We’re not leaving until that job is finished, and it’s going to be very fast, but we’re not going to count on having competent presidents,” he continued. 

The president ripped into Massie, who he described as “disloyal,” a “loser,” the “worst person” and a “disaster as a congressman” later on during his speech. Trump also touted Gallrein’s candidacy to represent Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, describing the farmer and former Navy SEAL officer as “central casting” and a “tremendous war hero.” He also defended  Gallrein’s decision to leave the GOP and register as an independent for a time because he returned to the party under the president’s leadership. 

“He [Gallrein] said, ‘I came back because of the strength and wisdom that Donald Trump displayed, and I appreciate that,” Trump said. “Many people have joined and rejoined our party, but Massie did not, because he only votes no. He just votes no. Doesn’t matter. I could give him the best things in the history of a Republican voter, and he’d vote no. There’s something wrong with him.”

“We call him Rand Paul, Jr., he votes against everything. At least I like Rand a little bit,” referring to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who frequently opposes the Trump administration on foreign policy.. “Rand votes against us all the time too, but at least he’s okay. I wouldn’t say the greatest.”

Massie broke with Trump throughout his first term, voting against the president’s priorities multiple times in Congress, though the two became serious political foes over the last year — after the Kentucky congressman voted against Trump’s tax cut legislation last year and began leading the charge to force the release of the Department of Justice’s files on the Jeffrey Epstein case. Their relationship deteriorated further as Massie became one of the most vocal GOP critics of Trump’s war in Iran. 

Gallrein described Massie’s opposition to Trump’s actions in Iran as “unforgivable” in remarks to attendees at the rally.

“He’s even leading the Democrats to block the president while we are engaged in combat actions to save our nation and the world from the Iranians [getting] a nuclear weapon, while we have troops in harm’s way. Unforgiveable,” Gallrein said of Massie. “You deserve a congressman who stands united with you, the Republican Party and the president.” 

Also in attendance were the leading candidates in the competitive GOP primary to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, pro-Trump businessman Nate Morris and Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) — and boxer and influencer Jake Paul, whom Trump said he would endorse if Paul were to run for office.

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