President Donald Trump wasn’t ready to let this one go. After a Senate vote moved to limit his ability to use military force against Venezuela, Trump unleashed his anger publicly — and then took things further behind the scenes.
A vote in the U.S. Senate advancing a resolution that would rein in Trump’s ability to use the U.S. military for any operations against Venezuela sent him over the edge.
The Senate’s move to advance a floor vote on the measure followed Trump’s unauthorized military action against Venezuela overnight Friday, Jan. 3, and the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges.
Five Senate Republicans — Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley and Todd Young — joined Democrats in a 52–47 vote Thursday, Jan. 8, to advance the war powers resolution, despite GOP leadership’s attempts to block it. The resolution needed 51 votes to move forward, but it has virtually no future even if it ultimately passes the Senate.
Still, the vote represented a rare show of resistance from a Republican-controlled Congress that has spent the past year ceding much of its authority to Trump.
And Trump took it personally.
After the vote, Trump threw a tantrum on Truth Social, naming and condemning the five Republicans who supported the resolution.
“Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again,” he wrote.
He raged on, calling the Vietnam-era War Powers Resolution “unconstitutional” and accusing it of interfering with his “Authority as Commander in Chief.”
The move drew the ire from many across social media.
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“This is a sick, deranged, paranoid man who belongs in a mental hospital or a prison, not the White House,” one person on Threads.
“Last time I checked one of this country’s founding principles was Checks and Balances,” this Threads user stated.
“He’s about to crash out like a child with tantrums..,” an Instagram poster joked.
“The one who should never be elected is the one ranting…next caller,” still another Instagrammer proclaimed.
But Trump’s anger didn’t stop online.
Behind the scenes, he began dialing up the same Republican senators he had just publicly attacked — and the calls were anything but friendly.
According to congressional and White House officials, Trump personally called Collins, Murkowski, Paul, Hawley and Young to rebuke them for backing the resolution. In at least some of the calls, he accused the senators of “voting against the military” and against him personally.
While Trump was fully aware that the procedural vote wouldn’t change policy or meaningfully reduce his power, officials said he still made the calls because he viewed the senators’ actions as a personal betrayal.
He also saw the vote as a rejection of the Venezuela operation he considers a major success — and a slight against the troops who carried it out.
In Collins’ case, the conversation reportedly turned especially heated.
According to two sources familiar with the call, Trump launched into a profanity-laced rant, telling the Maine senator she “never did anything for him” and suggesting he might support an opponent against her.
“He called her and then basically read her the riot act,” one Senate GOP member told The Hill, describing it as a “profanity-laced rant.”
Another source said Trump was “very mad. Very hot.”
Critics see it as Trump’s fear his power is shifting.
“He needs to understand that for him to call for primary challenges against a senator only increases that certain senator’s chances of winning. Trump is toxic at this point,” wrote one critic on Threads.
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Another added, “You can feel the power slipping from his cold dead hands.”
Collins’ spokesperson confirmed the call took place, though they declined to provide details. When reporters later read Trump’s Truth Social post to Collins, she responded dryly.
“The president obviously is unhappy with the vote,” Collins said. “I guess this means that he would prefer to have Gov. Mills or somebody else.”
Collins doesn’t even have a Republican challenger. So far, only Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Democrat Graham Platner have announced plans to run.
Trump also called Sen. Todd Young, though that conversation was described as “direct but cordial.” A Murkowski spokesperson confirmed Trump contacted her as well, adding that “attempts to apply pressure do not have an effect.”
White House officials described Trump as “uniquely angry” about the procedural vote and instructed aides to make sure the final vote next week doesn’t go against him.
Even Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, who missed the vote while celebrating his anniversary, initially drew Trump’s ire — until he assured the president he planned to vote with him later.
Despite knowing the resolution wouldn’t strip him of power, Trump still moved to punish the Republicans who dared to cross him.
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires presidents to seek congressional approval before launching military action. But Trump has repeatedly framed the law as an attack on his authority.
Collins, who is up for reelection, brushed off the pressure.
Other Republicans weren’t as amused.
Retiring North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis warned Trump’s team that attacking GOP lawmakers could backfire in an election year.
“We’ve got several seats in play,” Tillis said. “This is a time for Republicans to put their differences behind closed doors and support each other.”
