Donald Trump went on an angry tirade against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Monday after the Republican congressman followed through on his effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But Trump’s outburst took an even stranger turn when he suggested Congress should be impeaching the people responsible for the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars instead.
During a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room, Trump unloaded on Massie, calling him a “stone cold loser” and a “sick” person for daring to challenge his defense secretary.
“He’s a sick, sick guy. There’s something wrong with him, actually. Now he’s after Pete Hegseth. He doesn’t like Hegseth, but really, what has Hegseth done?” Trump said.
As it turns out, Massie has quite a list of concerns.
Earlier Monday, the Kentucky Republican introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth, reading them aloud on the House floor shortly after 2 p.m. He is pushing for a House vote later this week, accusing the defense secretary of abusing his authority in connection with several Pentagon operations.
Those allegations include the Iran war, the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his own country, and the extrajudicial killings of suspected drug smugglers in international waters.
Asked whether he had watched Massie’s impeachment speech, Trump brushed it off as a waste of Congress’s time.
“Massie’s a loser. He shouldn’t be taking up the time of Congress, or the Senate or anything that he’s doing. The guy’s a stone cold loser,” Trump said.
Trump also made clear that he would stand by Hegseth even if the House votes to impeach him.
“Yeah, I’ll stand by,” Trump said. “He won two wars. He was in charge. We all won.”
The exchange got even uglier when CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Trump on Massie’s accusations that Hegseth had committed illegal acts.
Rather than address the allegations, Trump turned his anger toward both the congressman and the reporter.
“Massie’s a loser, just like you’re a loser at CNN, just like your ratings are a loser, Massie is a loser, stone cold loser,” he snapped.
Trump then bragged about helping defeat Massie in the Republican primary, where the congressman lost to a Trump-backed challenger. He accused Massie of having “a lot of hatred in his heart” and said he had no interest in watching the impeachment speech.
Trump also claimed the United States had made “hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars” in profit from the Iran war, offering no further explanation for the figure.
But the strangest moment came when Trump was asked about the effort to hold Hegseth accountable.
Instead of defending the defense secretary against Massie’s specific allegations, Trump suggested Congress should go after the people responsible for America’s previous wars.
“How about impeaching the people who ran the Vietnam War, the people who ran Iraq and Afghanistan?” he asked.
That’s quite a detour. Massie is seeking accountability for the actions of a sitting defense secretary, while Trump would rather point Congress toward the officials who oversaw three wars from decades ago.
Watch the clip below:
