President Donald Trump and Sen. Susan Collins have never been friends. Trump made sure everyone knew that… but endorsed her anyway, a “big tent” move to include the Republican’s liberal wing.
Standing in the Oval Office Wednesday, Trump threw his support behind the six-term Maine “Republican In Name Only” senator, deploying the kind of backhanded compliment only Trump could deliver.
“She’s not my best friend at all,” the president added. “But she is a sane person, and she is a person that never missed a vote in many years.”
The endorsement came one day after socialist Democratic insurgent Graham Platner crushed Gov. Janet Mills 72% to 22% in Tuesday’s Democratic Senate primary, advancing to one of the most high-stakes Senate battles of the 2026 midterms.
With Republicans holding a razor-thin 53-47 Senate majority, the Maine seat is widely seen as one of the most critical contests determining whether the GOP keeps control of the chamber.
Trump needs Collins to win, and praised her work ethic. Collins recently cast a 10,000 consecutive Senate votes without missing a single one, a historic Senate record.
“She never missed a vote,” Trump said. “Unfortunately, because sometimes she voted against me!” His Republican allies in the room laughed.
“She is a sane woman, and she’s a respected person. Maybe a little different ideology than me.”
The endorsement surprised observers given the turbulent history between the two. Collins, long dubbed a RINO by Trump loyalists, voted to convict the president at his second impeachment trial following January 6 and voted with Democrats as recently as April to advance a war powers resolution that would have forced U.S. forces to withdraw from the Iran conflict.
Notably, however, Collins also flipped this week to support the original version of the SAVE America Act, which would make voter ID and proof of citizenship a requirement to vote in federal elections.
“Republicans need to match that urgency immediately. Define Platner. Defend Collins. Resource Maine. Senator Collins has proven time and time again, through her work ethic and commitment to the people of Maine and America, that she will prevail,” National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a recent memo.
If Trump was holding anything back in his defense of Collins, he showed no such restraint toward Platner. The president delivered one of his most colorful takedowns in recent memory.
“I watched that thug that’s up in Maine. He’s a thug,” Trump said. “He’s a fake thug, he’s a phony. I made a lot of money picking out phonies. He’s a real phony. He’s bad. He’s a bad person.”
“He’s a cheap, no-good person,” Trump continued. “He’s worse than any human being that’s ever run for office. Probably. I don’t know him. I don’t want to say bad — but there’s never been a guy like that that’s ever run for office. At any level.”
Trump also briefly called Platner a “pig”… then appeared to reconsider out of respect for actual pigs.
“I don’t want to stick him with that one, though. I think pigs would be very upset about it.”