Tillis Texts Tell Trump He Still Wanted to Help Him

Newly public text messages attributed to Sen. Thom Tillis show the North Carolina Republican telling President Donald Trump that he still wanted to help him while objecting to Trump’s treatment of him and warning that the country was failing. The messages, dated May 22 and June 6, are expected to appear in Tillis’s forthcoming memoir, How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents. In the May 22 message, Tillis wrote that he did not accept what he described as Trump’s treatment, but said his criticism came from concern about the president’s prospects. “I care if you fail and right now we are failing,” Tillis wrote, according to the text reproduced in reports about the exchange. He also urged Trump to reserve threats and political pressure for people who did not care whether he succeeded. The message followed a public attack by Trump on Truth Social that day. Trump called Tillis weak and ineffective, a nitpicker and a quitter, according to accounts quoting the post. The messages surfaced amid a deteriorating relationship between the two Republicans, after Tillis announced in June 2025 that he would not seek reelection.