Trump Calls Cornyn 'Very Angry' Over Primary Loss as AG Nomination Standoff Continues

Since Cornyn and Tillis first blocked Todd Blanche's attorney general confirmation over the $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund, President Trump has escalated his attacks on the Texas senator rather than easing them.

At a Cabinet meeting Friday, Trump called Cornyn "very angry" and framed the blockade as personal payback. Cornyn lost his Republican Senate primary after Trump threw a last-minute endorsement to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Trump now says that loss, not the fund itself, is driving Cornyn's holdout.

"John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called 'Fund,' which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas," Trump wrote on Truth Social, according to Heartlander News.

Trump argued the fund exists to compensate people he says were victims of "lawfare" under the Biden administration, and pushed back on the idea that Cornyn ever objected to it before the primary. "Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed," Trump wrote.

In the Cabinet meeting itself, Trump called Blanche "a very, very good man" who "shouldnt be in the middle of this," and said Cornyn is using the nomination as a "pawn" in a fight that's really about the primary loss. "I dont really blame him, to be honest with you. I endorsed his opponent. And as soon as I endorsed his opponent, his opponent went through the roof and he won the primary election in Texas for Senate," Trump said, according to Heartlander News.

The Fund Question Trump Won't Let Go Of

The core dispute hasn't moved. Blanche has told Cornyn and Tillis the Justice Department isn't moving forward with the $1.776 billion fund. But the two senators want that commitment in writing before they'll release their hold on his confirmation, and DOJ hasn't produced it.

Asked directly by a reporter Friday whether the fund is truly dead, Trump gave an answer that cuts against his own senators' skepticism while also conceding the point: "it is dead, but I wish it weren't."

"I think people were horribly treated, horribly abused. This has nothing to do with Todd, this is me. And I'd like to see them compensated for the pain," Trump said.

Trump is on record saying the fund is dead, which is exactly what Cornyn and Tillis are demanding DOJ confirm in writing. Yet he's simultaneously arguing the senators' holdout is illegitimate and personally motivated, rather than treating their documentation request as a reasonable process question.

Cornyn and Tillis have a defensible position here. Verbal assurances from an acting attorney general aren't the same as a written policy commitment, and asking for something in writing before confirming a permanent AG is a standard oversight move, not an unusual one. Senate Democrats have separately demanded records on the fund and on mineral deals tied to the Trump and Lutnick families, meaning the fund is drawing scrutiny well beyond these two Republicans.

Whether Cornyn's specific timing—waiting until after his primary loss to press the issue—reflects personal grievance rather than principle is a fair question Trump is entitled to raise. But it doesn't resolve whether the underlying request, get DOJ's position in writing, is reasonable. Those are two separate questions and Trump's public statements are conflating them.

Iran Comments Made at the Same Meeting

At the same Cabinet session, Trump also addressed Iran, saying the country's military has been "obliterated" but that fighting continues because Tehran retains some residual capability. "Their navy has been obliterated. Their air force has been obliterated. They have no planes," Trump said, adding that Iran's missile stockpile is "far fewer than they had four or five months ago" but not eliminated.

Trump said the campaign, which he called a "military operation" rather than a war, has run five months, and compared it favorably to the multi-year length of the Vietnam and Afghanistan conflicts. He also said the administration is preparing a $1.5 trillion defense budget for next year, emphasizing the equipment involved is "made in the USA."

No new information from named U.S. defense officials or independent assessments accompanied these claims in Friday's meeting. They remain Trump's own characterization of the campaign's results.

What Happens Next

Blanche's confirmation stays stalled until Cornyn and Tillis get what they're asking for: written DOJ confirmation the $1.776 billion fund is dead. Trump has threatened to pull Blanche's nomination altogether rather than wait out the two senators, though he has not set a deadline. Senate Democrats' document request on the fund and related mineral deals adds a second track of scrutiny that could keep the fund in the headlines regardless of how the AG vote resolves.