President Donald Trump spoke openly about his attempts to sway Republican lawmakers with personal favors in exchange for their votes on his One Big, Beautiful Bill.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters and industry leaders at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Event on July 15, Trump recounted his frustration with two GOP holdouts who voted against his sweeping legislative package. One of them, he claimed, had benefited from a deeply personal intervention.
"I did him a very big, big favor. Very personal favor. As big as you can get, having to do with death and life... and sure as hell, he voted against us," Trump said. "So much for favors."
The president did not name the lawmaker directly, but just two House Republicans cast 'no' votes: Rep. Thomas Massie (KY) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA).
"We only had two negative votes, I didn't invite those guys," Trump told the Pittsburgh audience. "We had a guy...known as Rand Paul Jr. in the House. He always votes 'no.'"
"And we had somebody else...I won't mention his name," Trump said, as he began alluding to the unrequited favor.
Trump: "We had a guy named Rand Paul Jr. He's known as Rand Paul Jr in the House. He always votes no. We had somebody else that did him a big favor, and I said, 'Sir, I don't think so and so is gonna vote.' And I said, 'No, he's gonna vote because i did him a big big favor. Very... pic.twitter.com/grn3JGbGkc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 15, 2025
The remarks echoed comments he made a day earlier during the White House faith luncheon.
"We had another guy who I helped, very, very strongly helped him with a very personal situation, got him through it, and he voted no," Trump told the crowd.
Trump also criticized perennial Republican holdout Sen. Rand Paul, whom he mockingly dubbed "just say no," and Sen. Susan Collins, calling her "brutal."
"I had to go to Kentucky twice to do rallies to get him elected twice, but they forget," Trump said of Paul. "A lot of politicians forget."
Critics accused Trump of publicly admitting to attempted bribery or coercion of sitting members of Congress.
"Trump just casually admitted to trading a 'life and death' favor for a vote — then whined that it didn't work," an X user wrote.
"So he's just openly bragging about bribery now?" asked another. "OMG!! He admits to corruption and blackmail and still no one will do anything about it. Last I heard extortion is illegal. But then again laws don't apply to him, do they ?!?!?" another user wrote.
"A president shouldn't act this way—even in private," added one commenter.
So far, the White House has not issued a clarification or denial regarding the president's remarks.
Originally published on Latin Times
