Senator Tillis sent profane texts to Trump, book reveals
Outgoing Republican senator's messages to the president are expected to be published in his memoir.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, unleashed profanity-laced broadsides in private text messages to President Donald Trump earlier this year (Getty)
Photograph: The Independent (US) (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Senator Thom Tillis sent private text messages to President Donald Trump earlier this year, expressing anger and using profanity.
- Tillis stated he would not accept Trump's "bullshit" and would tell him to "f*** yourself" if threatened with a primary challenge.
- These messages are expected to appear in Tillis's forthcoming book, titled "How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents."
- Trump had publicly attacked Tillis on Truth Social on May 22, calling him a "nitpicker."
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 8 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
61/100
Hype
41/100
8 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 8 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Senator Thom Tillis sent private text messages to President Donald Trump earlier this year, in which he used profanity to express his dissatisfaction. In one message, Tillis stated he would not accept Trump's "bullshit." He also wrote that if Trump had threatened him with a primary challenge, he would have told him to "f*** yourself" and announced his retirement immediately.
These messages are expected to be published in Tillis's forthcoming book, "How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents." Trump had publicly attacked Tillis on Truth Social on May 22, calling him a "nitpicker." Tillis announced his retirement from the Senate on June 29, 2025.
Disagreement on timing of threats
The Independent reported that Tillis wrote, "As I have said before, you NEVER threatened me with a primary challenge." It also stated that Trump criticized Tillis publicly after the senator said he would oppose Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general unless Blanche condemned the January 6 rioters. The Independent reported that Trump told a reporter, "Senator Tillis is a loser. That’s why he didn’t run. He didn’t run because I wouldn’t support him. And he’s just an angry man because he’s not gonna be a senator any longer." The Independent also reported that Tillis announced his retirement on June 29, 2025, hours after Trump said he would seek primary challengers to Tillis following the senator’s vote against advancing the “Big, Beautiful Bill” in the Senate.
What the coverage left out
None of the left or centre-rated reports mentioned the specific date Senator Thom Tillis announced his retirement from the Senate, other than that it was in June 2025. No right-rated outlet ran this story.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 10 times, most recently on 2 Oct 2026, 17:15, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
7 rated outlets
- Left-rated reports highlighted the profanity used by Senator Thom Tillis in his private text messages to President Donald Trump. Several outlets quoted Tillis's statements, including "f*** yourself" and "bullshit." The reports noted that these messages are expected to appear in Tillis's forthcoming book, "How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents." The timing of the texts, occurring earlier this year, and Trump's public criticism of Tillis on Truth Social on May 22 were also mentioned. The Independent, in its full report, detailed Tillis's past criticisms of Trump administration policies and officials, including the Iran war and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and his comments about Donald Trump Jr.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The centre-rated report from Political Wire focused on Senator Thom Tillis lashing out at President Donald Trump in private texts. It mentioned Tillis's refusal to take Trump's "bullshit" and his statement that he would have "immediately told you to fuck yourself" and announced his retirement early if Trump had directly threatened him with a primary challenge. The report noted these messages were obtained by Playbook and will be included in Tillis's forthcoming book.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Senator Tillis sent profane texts to Trump, book reveals?
- Of the 8 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 88% are rated left, 12% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Senator Tillis sent profane texts to Trump, book reveals left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 8 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Senator Tillis sent profane texts to Trump, book reveals biased?
- Senator Tillis sent profane texts to Trump, book reveals is one event reported by 8 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Senator Tillis sent profane texts to Trump, book reveals?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Senator Tillis sent profane texts to Trump, book reveals?
- 8 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Senator Thom Tillis text President Donald Trump?
- Senator Thom Tillis sent private text messages to President Donald Trump earlier this year. In these messages, Tillis stated he would not accept Trump's "bullshit" and indicated he would tell Trump to "f*** yourself" if threatened with a primary challenge.
- When will these texts be made public?
- The private text messages sent by Senator Thom Tillis to President Donald Trump are expected to appear in Tillis's forthcoming book, titled "How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents."
- Did President Trump publicly criticize Senator Tillis?
- Yes, President Donald Trump publicly attacked Senator Thom Tillis on Truth Social on May 22. Trump referred to Tillis as a "nitpicker" and stated he was "always fighting against the Republican Party."
Read it at the source
8 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
7- 'Go F--k yourself,' 'Save that s--t for cowards': Thom Tillis unleashes on Trump in explosive texts (opens The Daily Boulder in a new tab)
The Daily Boulder — is The Daily Boulder biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Thom Tillis Reveals F-Bomb Texts He Sent To Trump (opens Joe.My.God. in a new tab)
Joe.My.God. — is Joe.My.God. biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Republican senator’s angry and profanity-laced texts to Trump revealed (opens The Independent (US) in a new tab)
The Independent (US) — is The Independent (US) biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Republican senator’s angry and profanity-laced texts to Trump revealed (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Cursing GOP senator directly ripped into Trump in newly released texts: 'We are failing' (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
- 'Cowards and fools': Tillis unloads on Trump in profane private message (opens Alternet in a new tab)
- GOP Senator Privately Told Off Trump in Fiery Texts Obtained by Politico: ‘I Don’t Take That Bullsh*t From Anyone!’ (opens Mediaite in a new tab)
Centre
1Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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