President Donald Trump praised Sen. Susan Collins in a Fox News interview on Thursday, saying she needs to be reelected to protect the Republican majority in the Senate.
In an interview with “The Five,” Trump brought up Collins while answering a question about whether the Senate should kill the filibuster to pay airport security workers during the ongoing partial government shutdown.
Trump initially included Collins in a group of “three or four people that I’m not at all fans of,” along with fellow Republicans Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky; Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — before catching himself.
“I hope she wins,” Trump said of Collins. “She’s a good person actually, but we have to win. We have to keep the majority, otherwise all of the things we’ve done are going to go down the tubes.”
Trump’s statement reflects his complicated relationship with Maine’s senior senator, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. Collins has never supported Trump in his runs for president, but has cast crucial votes for his priorities and nominees.
Trump’s comments come two months after he said Collins and several other Republicans “should never be elected to office again” in response to Collins voting to rein in Trump’s military campaign in Venezuela.
A month later, he praised her leadership of the appropriations committee during a signing ceremony at the White House.
Collins, 73, is facing what’s expected to be a difficult reelection campaign. She’s the only Republican senator running in a state won by Democrats in the 2024 presidential election, and she has low approval ratings.
The top Democrats competing in the primary to take her on in the fall pounced on Trump’s reluctant praise.
“She will not win, you will not keep the majority, and all of the things you have done are indeed going down the tubes,” Graham Platner, 41, said in a social media post.
“Trump hopes @SenSusanCollins wins because he knows she won’t stand up to him — she’s proven that time and time again,” Gov. Janet Mills, 78, said in a social media post. “Unlike her, I’ve stood up to the President before — and won. I’ll do the same in the Senate.”