Decent article on the Trump-Massie feud and the makeup of Massie's district. Massie says he has never met Elon before.
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Why Thomas Massie Can Thwart Trump With Impunity
Trump’s political machine is gunning for this Kentucky congressman. But the state’s most contrarian district may not play along.
By
Alex Keeney
07/09/2025
Kentucky is famous for its bourbon, horses and college basketball. But in Rep. Thomas Massie’s fourth Congressional district, there are a few other pillars to know about: Cincinnati chili, served over spaghetti with Greek spices; a life-size Noah’s Ark; and a political culture that, in the words of Northern Kentucky’s political class, is a good fit for Massie’s libertarian conservatism — even if it means facing the wrath of President Donald Trump.
“Yes, we’re conservatives, but we also have independent thinking,” said Republican state Rep. TJ Roberts, a protege of Massie’s in Frankfort. “We have a consistent track record of having a very different taste, especially when we talk about foreign affairs.”
That taste has set Massie on a collision course with Trump, whom Massie has defied at key moments of his second presidency. In March, Massie ignored Trump’s wishes and voted “No” on the current continuing resolution to keep the government funded. Then, in May, Massie opposed Trump’s “
big, beautiful bill,” which is to say, most of the president’s domestic agenda. Just a few weeks later, he took a swing at Trump’s foreign policy. “
This is not Constitutional,” Massie said on X, embedding a screenshot of Trump’s blustery announcement that U.S. forces had struck Iran. Massie quickly threatened a war powers resolution, cosigned by Democrats, to rein Trump in.
“I am consequential here in Washington, D.C. In between launching B-2 bombers to the other side of the planet, the president spends some portion of his attention worried about what I’m going to do next,” said Massie, a 54-year-old, MIT-educated entrepreneur who founded a haptics company before moving back to his family home of Lewis County in the early 2000s.
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