Seething Trump privately polls senators on dislodging affable GOP leader as frustrations boil over

By BREANNE DEPPISCH, U.S. SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 20:17, 18 June 2026 | Updated: 20:17, 18 June 2026 President Donald Trump spent the past days looking for peace abroad in meetings with G7 leaders and in talks with Iran, but back at home he's stirring up an intra-party war. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, an affable South Dakota Republican, whom one colleague likened to a 'golden retriever,' has been the source of Trump's ire for weeks, so much so that the President is feeling out a possible coup attempt. Trump sees Thune as resisting his legislative agenda, including efforts to nuke the filibuster and the blue-slip process for judicial nominees.  There is little appetite in the chamber to do away with either the filibuster or blue slips, both time-honored procedures among both parties. But Thune's efforts to explain this to the president appear to have fallen on deaf ears, and there are concerns within the chamber that he may be taking undue flak for running this message up the chain. Privately, Trump has been polling Republicans for their views on Thune's leadership, Punchbowl News reported Thursday, in a sign of just how far their relationship has soured.  Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said Trump was 'taking shots' at Thune during a closed-door meeting, sources told Punchbowl.  No one expressed disagreement with Kennedy's view or defended Trump, the sources said of the meeting. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota refused reporters questions on Thursday President Donald Trump addresses the media on the tarmac after arriving at Paris Orly Airport Senate Majority Leader John Thune appears at a news conference alongside Senator Tom Cotton Trump hasn't floated any replacements for Thune and it's unlikely he could dislodge him without a massive Senate GOP munity.  Still, it wouldn't be the first time Trump dislodged another Republican leader for failing to bend to his political whims or try to push through long-shot legislative priorities. Senator John Cornyn of Texas lost his primary this year after Trump, who accused him of being 'very disloyal,' endorsed his opponent, Ken Paxton. (Cornyn had a record of voting with Trump 99 percent of the time.)  He has previously gone after Senator Mitch McConnell and other Republicans for failing to deliver and McConnell relinquished his role as Republican leader in 2024 after pressure from Trump. The Punchbowl report came hours after Trump threw another wrench into Thune's agenda and abruptly axed the planned confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, Trump's nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence.  The announcement blindsided Thune hours before the vote was scheduled to take place, and upended a frantic scramble to secure the votes needed for a speedy confirmation.  Thune, for his part, has tried to keep his focus squarely on the Senate. Asked Thursday about Trump's abrupt about-face on Clayton, and other actions that have injected chaos into the chamber, the South Dakota lawmaker offered only a two-word response.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.