President Trump ramped up his feud with a pair of Kentucky lawmakers on Tuesday, taking shots at Republican Senator Rand Paul (Ky.) over his absence from a White House lunch to discuss the government shutdown, the Daily Mail reported.
Trump hosted Senate Republicans and members of his Cabinet at the Rose Garden, treating them to his usual jokes and a no-frills meal of cheeseburgers with French fries and a Diet Coke.
"We have everybody but one person here. You'll never guess who that is," Trump said.
Trump recently renovated the Rose Garden to look more like Mar-A-Lago, dubbing it the "Rose Garden Club."
Speaking to guests assembled on the stone patio, Trump couldn't resist knocking Paul, saying he "automatically votes no" on everything.
Without naming the senator directly, Trump left no doubt of who he was joking about.
"Let me give you a hint - he automatically votes No on everything. He thinks it's good politics; it's not good politics," Trump said.
Indeed, Paul is the only Republican senator who has consistently voted against his party's resolution to end the current government shutdown.
Trump suggested that Paul didn't want to be at the White House lunch, adding, "If he wanted to come, I'd probably let him come, begrudgingly."
The relationship between Trump and Paul has turned frosty as the Republican senator opposes multiple aspects of Trump's agenda, from his military strikes in the Caribbean to tariffs to federal spending.
In a social media post, Paul said that he hosted his own "Liberty Caucus" lunch with Rep. Thomas Massie, another Kentucky Republican who has rankled Trump.
I actually wasn’t invited to the White House lunch today, but that’s ok I had a previously scheduled Liberty Caucus Lunch with @MassieforKY pic.twitter.com/7IHoQiZ3OR
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 21, 2025
Trump has criticized Massie and Paul - both doctrinaire libertarians - as all-talk, no-action obstructionists.
This week, a Trump-backed primary challenger and former Navy SEAL, Ed Gallrein, launched a campaign against Massie.
Paul and Massie were among the only Republicans to oppose Trump's sweeping policy bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which codified Trump's tax cuts and investments in immigration enforcement. Massie and Paul both pointed to concerns about the national debt.
Paul is again citing budget concerns as he breaks with Republicans during the shutdown battle. He says the GOP's plan to temporarily fund the government would add too much to the deficit, and he wants no part of it.
