Tillis slams Trump in vulgar private text, denies any primary threat

A private June 6 text exchange shows North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis confronting Donald Trump with profanity, telling the president he would have instantly told him to “f—— yourself” and announced his retirement if ever threatened with a primary. Tillis emphasized that Trump never directly threatened him, countering Trump’s claim that the president drove him out of office. The messages were disclosed as part of the promotion for Tillis’s upcoming memoir, which portrays an increasingly hostile rapport with Trump.

The dispute follows Trump’s public attacks on Tillis after the senator refused to back Todd Blanche’s attorney-general nomination without a condemnation of the Jan. 6 rioters. Tillis, who announced in June 2025 he would not seek re-election, cited opposition to Trump’s tax and Medicaid provisions as a factor and has grown more vocal in criticizing the president since stepping down.