Donald Trump has spent years publicly trashing Republican senators he considered insufficiently loyal. Now, he’s reportedly begging two of them to save one of the most important nominations of his presidency.
According to Politico, Trump is quietly lobbying GOP Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas in an effort to rescue acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The reason? A single Republican vote against Blanche on the committee could derail his confirmation.
That has left the administration courting two senators Trump repeatedly attacked when they refused to fall in line.
Trump has called Tillis a “loser” and a “quitter,” while branding Cornyn “hopeless” before backing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over the longtime senator in the Republican primary, a move that effectively ended Cornyn’s Senate career.
Now, according to Politico, both senators confirmed they’ve been in active discussions with the White House.
“The Administration continues to have active conversations with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee,” a White House official told the outlet.
Neither senator has committed to supporting Blanche.
Both have raised concerns about his role in approving the Justice Department’s controversial $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, which drew bipartisan criticism after questions arose about whether taxpayer money could end up benefiting Trump allies, including some connected to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Cornyn said negotiations with the administration are continuing as he pushes for changes to the agreement.
“Those are the issues we’re continuing to discuss with the administration to see whether we can get a modification of the settlement agreement,” he told Politico.
When asked whether Blanche might be willing to make concessions to win his vote, Cornyn didn’t mince words.
“Well, does he want to get confirmed or not?” he replied.
Although the Justice Department has since said the fund will not move forward in its current form, Blanche has reportedly stopped short of putting that commitment in writing, leaving several Republicans unconvinced.
Tillis has also pressed Blanche on other issues, including the Justice Department’s handling of investigations tied to Jeffrey Epstein and whether federal authorities are aggressively pursuing alleged co-conspirators.
As part of that effort, Blanche met with several Epstein survivors last week after Tillis urged him to do so.
But the meeting appears to have backfired.
“It had absolutely nothing to do with us, and it had everything to do with Blanche checking a box so that he can get a promotion,” survivor Liz Stein said afterward.
“I didn’t expect to walk out of the meeting feeling the way we feel right now,” she added. “It was demoralizing.”
Stein also criticized Blanche for failing to take responsibility after some victims’ names were mistakenly released in the handling of Epstein-related records.
Despite the uncertainty, Politico reported that one source familiar with the confirmation process believes Tillis will ultimately vote to advance Blanche’s nomination.
Whether that prediction proves correct remains to be seen.
But for now, Trump finds himself in an uncomfortable position—asking for political lifelines from Republican senators he spent years attacking as disloyal.
