White House targets GOP senator after private texts unload on Trump ahead of tell-all release

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump's White House has escalated its fight with retiring Republican Sen Thom Tillis after private messages surfaced showing the North Carolina senator sharply confronting the president, just days before Tillis’ memoir about Washington and Trump’s inner circle reaches bookstores.

A senior White House official told Politico Playbook that Tillis made a “p***y move” by sending his criticism through text rather than confronting Trump directly, adding that it “shows what kind of character he is.”

The comments came after Politico obtained messages that Tillis wrote to Trump earlier this year. 

The exchanges are set to appear in Tillis’ book, 'How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents', due October 6.

Thom Tillis unloads on Trump in private texts

In a May 22 message responding to a Trump post calling him “weak and ineffective,” Tillis wrote that he still wanted to help the president but did not take “this b******t from anyone, including you Mr president.”

“I care if you fail and right now we are failing,” Tillis wrote, according to the messages reported by Politico.

A second exchange from June 6 was even more direct.

Tillis told Trump he had never been threatened with a primary challenge and said that, had Trump personally made such a threat, he would have told him to “f**k yourself” and announced his retirement immediately.

The messages show a private confrontation that had been largely absent from Tillis’ public relationship with Trump.

Tillis has previously criticized Trump’s advisers and administration decisions while continuing to say he wants the president to succeed.

Trump feud predates explosive memoir

Tillis’ break with Trump became public last year when he opposed moving forward with Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, citing concerns about its Medicaid provisions.

Trump responded by threatening to support a primary challenger.

Tillis announced on June 29, 2025, that he would not seek another Senate term.

The retirement changed the political stakes around their clashes.

Tillis no longer faces a reelection campaign, and he later told Axios that his decision followed a conversation with Trump over the legislation.

His forthcoming memoir now puts that relationship on the record.

Published by Broadside Books, the 224-page book describes itself as an account of “sycophants,” “courage outsourcing” and “partisan groupthink” surrounding Trump’s second administration.

White House fires back days before book's release

The timing has turned the White House response into part of the book’s rollout.

The administration is publicly attacking Tillis while excerpts from his private exchanges with Trump are emerging ahead of Tuesday’s publication date.

The book’s publisher says Tillis examines the president’s advisers and what he sees as the effects of groupthink inside the Republican Party.

The memoir specifically discusses figures around Trump and describes the senator’s disagreements with the administration.

Tillis’ confrontation with Trump also arrives as North Carolina Republicans prepare for a Senate race to replace him.

Trump-backed Republican Michael Whatley is seeking the seat against Democratic former Gov Roy Cooper.