Trump Calls Boebert 'Weak-Minded' and Vows to Back Her Primary Challenger After She Sided With the Epstein Files Push

Donald Trump turned on one of his most loyal congressional allies on Saturday night, publicly labelling Lauren Boebert 'weak minded' on Truth Social and calling for a primary challenger to unseat her in Colorado. The president's outburst came hours after Boebert appeared alongside Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie at campaign events ahead of next Tuesday's Republican primary, where Trump has backed retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein against the incumbent.

Their falling-out traces back months to Boebert's decision to sign a bipartisan discharge petition demanding the release of all Justice Department files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The episode is the latest sign of fractures inside a movement Trump has long maintained as unified behind him.

Discharge Petition Vote and the Epstein Files

Boebert was one of only four Republicans to back the Massie-Khanna discharge petition, a procedural mechanism that required 218 House signatures to bypass Republican leadership and force a floor vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA). The bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by California Democrat Ro Khanna, compelled the Attorney General to release all Justice Department documents relating to Epstein within 30 days, including flight logs, travel records, and internal communications.

The petition secured its final signature on 13 November 2025 when newly sworn-in Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva put the tally over the line. Five days later, the EFTA passed the full House by a vote of 427-1. The legislation then moved to the Senate, where its prospects were uncertain given Republican leadership's resistance to the push.

Speaker Mike Johnson had opposed the discharge effort, publicly dismissing it as procedurally 'reckless.' The Trump White House had also lobbied Republicans not to sign on. Boebert's decision to add her name to the petition, over reported pressure from both the executive and congressional leadership, put her squarely in the president's sights.

A separate friction point emerged in December 2025, when Trump vetoed legislation that would have delivered clean water infrastructure to an estimated 50,000 residents in south-eastern Colorado, a project Boebert had championed for her constituents. She publicly criticised the veto, a rare act of defiance that analysts noted at the time had already strained her standing with the White House.

Kentucky Stop That Put Boebert in Trump's Crosshairs

Boebert travelled to Kentucky on Friday, 16 May 2026, to appear at two campaign events alongside Massie, who faces a primary challenge on 20 May from Trump-endorsed retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky also joined Massie's campaign trail the same day, drawing an additional round of attacks from the president.

Trump responded with a volley of back-to-back posts on Truth Social on Saturday night. 'Word is that Rand Paul and Lauren Boebert, two very difficult, and highly unreasonable, Republican Votes, are right now in the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, which I won by 31 points, parading around like fools for the Worst 'Republican' Congressman in the History of our Party!' he wrote in the first post.

He followed with a direct solicitation for a primary challenger against Boebert. 'Is anyone interested in running against Weak Minded Lauren Boebert in Colorado's Fourth Congressional District?' Trump wrote, before adding, 'Even though I long ago endorsed Boebert, if the right person came along, it would be my Honor to withdraw that Endorsement, and endorse a good and proper alternative. Just let me know, or announce your Candidacy, and I will be there for you!'

Trump also escalated his attack on Massie in the same series of posts. 'His name is Thomas Massie, and he is a disloyal, ungracious, and sanctimonious FOOL, who almost never votes for even the best of Republican Values,' the president wrote. He described Gallrein as a 'Military Hero' and 'MAGA all the way.'

Boebert's Defiant Reply and the Colorado Filing Question

Boebert addressed Trump's post directly on X within hours of it appearing. 'Yes, I saw the President's post. No, I'm not mad or offended. I knew the risks when I agreed to stand by my friend Thomas Massie,' she wrote on the platform. She added, 'I was, and will be, America First, America Always, and MAGA. Onward.'

Earlier on Friday, Boebert had posted side-by-side photographs of herself with both Massie and Trump, writing that she had worked with each man on issues of freedom and liberty. Massie replied positively to the post. The optics were notable: a sitting congresswoman simultaneously endorsing a presidential ally and the man the president has spent months trying to defeat.

When reporters asked Massie about Trump's call for a Boebert challenger following a campaign rally on Saturday, he told Fox News it was probably too late to act on. 'I think he should be mending fences with these folks, not trying to burn bridges,' Massie said, suggesting Colorado's filing deadline for the primary had already passed.

Colorado's 4th Congressional District, which Boebert moved to before the 2024 election after facing a competitive race in her original 3rd District seat, is rated solidly Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Boebert won the seat comfortably in November 2024. Trump's threat to withdraw his endorsement carries real weight in a district where his backing functions as a decisive primary-season signal, yet any practical impact depends entirely on whether a credible candidate files in time.

No prominent Republican in Colorado had publicly announced a challenge to Boebert at the time of publication.

Boebert's future in Colorado now rests on a simple calculation: whether the president's anger outlasts the filing calendar.