Massie Joins List of GOP Lawmakers Ousted by Trump

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Daniel Bach (0:32)

The president notches another GOP win as Trump critic Thomas Massie loses in Kentucky.

Thomas Massie (0:38)

I mean, we stirred up something. There is a yearning in this country for somebody who will vote for principles over party.

Daniel Bach (0:45)

Plus, a global sell-off in bonds starts to bring down stock markets, and the EU finally agrees to move forward with its US trade deal.

It's Wednesday, May 20th. I'm Daniel Bach for the Wall Street Journal filling in for Luke Vargas. And here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

Ed Gahlrein (1:05)

Now my focus is on advancing the president's and the party's agenda to put America first and Kentucky always.

Daniel Bach (1:13)

President Trump's handpicked house candidate, former Navy Seal Ed Gahlrein, has defeated longtime GOP antagonist Thomas Massie in their Kentucky primary. Journal congressional reporter Siobhan Hughes says it's another sign of the president's iron grip on the Republican Party and potential consequences for lawmakers who defy him heading into the midterm elections.

Siobhan Hughes (1:34)

Trump had opposed Massie because Massie voted against his $3.4 trillion big beautiful bill. Massie didn't like the cost of those tax cuts and spending increases. Massie also opposed the war in Iran, Trump's tariffs. And perhaps most personally, Massie led the charge to enact legislation forcing the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an issue that Trump had initially dismissed as a hoax.

Massie fought back, assembling a coalition of young people opposed to the war in Iran, libertarians, fiscal conservatives, make America healthy again moms, small farmers. But in the end, it wasn't enough. He faced an onslaught of $19 million in advertising, most of it courtesy of hawkish pro-Israel groups.

Thomas Massie (2:22)

I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Galrein in Tel Aviv.

Siobhan Hughes (2:31)

In the end, it was the most expensive house primary in American history. But this may not be the final word.

As Massie addressed a crowd of his adoring supporters who cheered 2028 and Massie for president, Massie said, I started running a campaign, and we have ended up with a movement.

Daniel Bach (2:57)

In other votes yesterday, Trump-aligned Georgia Congressman Mike Collins will face former football coach Derek Dooley in a runoff next month, after neither captured enough votes to advance in the GOP Senate primary. President Trump didn't endorse a candidate in the challenge to Democrat John Ossoff for his Senate seat. Democrats have already notched some key wins in the red-leaning state ahead of the midterms that will determine control of Congress. And to that end, three Democrats in Pennsylvania, backed by Governor Josh Shapiro, won their primaries yesterday, as the party looks to flip the state's four swing districts in hopes of capturing a House majority in November. In the four swing districts, Scranton's mayor was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Meanwhile, just days after the president celebrated the loss of Senator Bill Cassidy in a Louisiana GOP primary, Cassidy voted in favor of advancing a resolution that would limit Trump's ability to wage war in Iran without congressional approval. The procedural ballot passed by three votes. The senator hadn't supported similar measures in seven previous votes going back to the start of the war, while he was in the midst of a re-election campaign where Trump urged voters to oust the politician who had voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial over the Capitol riot. In a statement on X, Cassidy said the White House and Pentagon have left Congress in the dark over the Iran conflict. War powers resolutions in both chambers have inched closer to passing in recent days where Republicans have narrow majorities, though Trump has largely ignored Congress in his overseas military strikes.

Coming up, a look at the regulatory probe into suspicious oil trades worth $800 million, and the EU agrees to move forward on a US trade deal. Those stories after the break.

SPEAKER_6 (4:40)

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