President Donald Trump signaled strong support for Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, as she prepares for what is expected to be a closely watched reelection battle following Democratic candidate Graham Platner’s victory in Tuesday’s primary election.
Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump was asked whether he planned to fully support Collins now that the general election matchup in Maine has effectively been set.
The question came from iHeartMedia White House correspondent Jon Decker, who asked whether the president would go “all-in” for Collins and whether she had his endorsement.
Trump answered in the affirmative, offering a somewhat surprising defense of a senator who has occasionally broken with his administration on major issues.
“She does, because she’s a sane woman,” Trump said. “She’s not my best friend at all. These guys are. I get along, but she is a sane person, and she is a person that never missed a vote in many years.”
The president acknowledged that Collins has not always been aligned with him politically.
“Unfortunately, because sometimes, she voted against me,” Trump added. “Look, she is a sane woman. And she’s a respected person.”
The remarks represented a notably warmer tone than Trump has used toward Collins at various points in the past. Although Collins has often supported key elements of the Republican agenda, she has occasionally parted ways with the president on high-profile votes.
Most recently, Collins voted against Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill, prompting a sharp reaction from the president at the time.
In a post on Truth Social following that vote, Trump urged Republicans to distance themselves from Collins’ position.
“Republicans, when in doubt, vote the exact opposite of Senator Susan Collins,” Trump wrote. “Generally speaking, you can’t go wrong. Thank you for your attention to this matter and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Collins also drew national attention in 2021 when she voted to convict Trump during his impeachment trial, a move that placed her among a small group of Republicans willing to break with the president on one of the most consequential votes of his political career.
Despite those disagreements, Trump’s comments Wednesday suggested that he views keeping the Senate seat in Republican hands as a priority and that he sees Collins as a credible and respected incumbent.
If Trump’s tone toward Collins has softened, his assessment of her Democratic opponent was considerably less charitable.
Platner secured victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary despite facing scrutiny over a series of personal controversies. Among the issues that surfaced during the campaign were reports involving extramarital sexting and a tattoo that critics argued carried Nazi-related connotations, though the tattoo has since been covered.
Trump did not hold back when discussing the Democratic nominee.
“This guy is a thug,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “He’s a fake thug. He’s a phony.”
The president then pointed to his experience in business as justification for his judgment.
“I made a lot of money picking out phonies,” Trump said. “He’s a bad person.”
The exchange underscored the increasingly sharp contrast that is expected to define Maine’s Senate race in the months ahead. While Collins remains one of the most independent Republicans in the Senate and has occasionally clashed with Trump, the president made clear that he intends to stand behind her candidacy against a Democratic challenger he views unfavorably.
With the primary now settled, attention is shifting toward what could become one of the most closely watched Senate contests of the election cycle.
[READ MORE: Mika Brzezinski Presses Graham Platner on Sexting Controversy Following Maine Primary Victory]
