Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky accused President Trump of abandoning his promise to fight political corruption, arguing that money from megadonors tied to hawkish foreign policy positions is now funding retaliation against Republicans who oppose foreign wars and big government.
“Trump promised he would drain the swamp, but now he’s joined it,” Massie wrote on X. “Adelson’s and Singer’s blood money for making war in Iran and Venezuela fund his intimidation and retribution campaigns at home against those who do fight the swamp, oppose big government, and reject foreign influence.”
Massie was responding to a Truth Social post from Trump the previous day. “THE MASSIE MASSACRE in the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky has had a really great impact on Senator Rand Paul who will be running in two years,” Trump wrote. “He’s been terrific, lately!”
Trump was referring to Massie’s May 19 primary loss to Trump-endorsed challenger Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL, in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District. Gallrein defeated the seven-term incumbent by roughly 10 percentage points, or about 1,300 votes, in what became the most expensive House primary in U.S. history, with roughly $37 million spent by outside groups and campaigns combined, according to a review of FEC filings by Louisville Public Media.
Massie’s reference to “Adelson’s and Singer’s blood money” points to specific, publicly disclosed donations recorded with the Federal Election Commission. Hedge fund manager Paul Singer contributed $1 million directly to MAGA KY, the Trump-aligned super PAC formed by campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio to oppose Massie, and combined with an additional PAC to give roughly $3 million in total, according to FEC filings reviewed by Louisville Public Media and Al Jazeera. A group tied to Israeli-American casino magnate Miriam Adelson, Preserve America PAC, gave $750,000 to MAGA KY, while investor John Paulson contributed $250,000. Separately, AIPAC’s United Democracy Project spent more than $4.1 million and the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Victory Fund spent roughly $3.9 million opposing Massie, bringing combined pro-Israel-aligned spending against him above $15 million, according to Al Jazeera’s review of FEC data.
Massie made the connection to Singer’s financial interests explicit during the campaign, telling ABC News’s This Week that his ability to withstand Trump’s criticism was undermined specifically by outside money. “It’s not just the president’s tweets. I can sustain those without a problem,” Massie said. “It’s because Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer have dumped money in here.” Massie has separately noted that Singer’s firm, Elliott Management, holds distressed debt tied to Venezuelan state oil company Citgo, giving Singer a financial stake in U.S. policy toward Venezuela.
Massie was one of only two House Republicans to vote against Trump’s 2025 tax and spending package, led a bipartisan push with Rep. Ro Khanna to force release of Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein, and repeatedly voted for War Powers Resolutions seeking to end unauthorized U.S. military action against Iran. He also publicly questioned the legality of the January operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, calling it more about oil and regime change than counter-narcotics enforcement.
Trump campaigned directly against Massie ahead of the primary, calling him a “grandstander,” “not MAGA,” and “the worst Congressman in the History of Congress,” among other insults, and recruited Gallrein to run against him. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also campaigned for Gallrein.
Trump’s reference to Sen. Rand Paul is widely read as both a victory lap and a warning. Paul, who shares Massie’s libertarian, non-interventionist instincts, campaigned for Massie during the primary and has previously been mocked by Trump as “Rand Paul Jr.” in reference to Massie. Trump’s post suggesting Massie’s defeat has made Paul “terrific, lately” implies the primary loss has shifted Paul’s behavior ahead of his own 2028 reelection campaign.
Massie’s term in the House runs through January 2027. He has continued pressing war powers compliance issues on Iran and has announced plans to introduce legislation restricting federal funding for police departments that use automated license plate reader cameras.
The Kentucky 4th District primary result was officially certified by the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office, with the state’s separate Registry of Election Finance overseeing disclosure requirements for the candidates’ own campaign committees, distinct from the independent-expenditure super PACs regulated at the federal level by the FEC.
No official U.S. government record endorses Massie’s characterization of the donations as “blood money” or foreign-influenced; the underlying contributions themselves are disclosed, legal donations from U.S. citizens and entities under FEC rules, and Massie’s framing represents his own interpretation of their significance.