President Trump on Thursday said Sen. Rand Paul was wrong in contending he was barred from Thursday’s White House picnic because of his opposition to the One Big Beautiful Bill.
“Of course, Senator Rand Paul and his beautiful wife and family are invited to the BIG White House party tonight,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social.
“He’s the toughest vote in the history of the U.S. Senate, but why wouldn’t he be? Besides, it gives me more time to get his vote on the Great Big Beautiful Bill, one of the greatest and most important pieces of legislation ever put before our Senators & Congressmen/women,” Mr. Trump continued, adding that he will “look forward to seeing Rand” at the picnic.
The president’s comments come one day after the Kentucky Republican said he was “uninvited” to the White House picnic, an annual tradition typically attended by members of Congress and their families.
Mr. Paul told reporters that he was not invited because he opposes the president’s centerpiece legislation.
“They’re afraid of what I’m saying, so they think they’re going to punish me. I can’t go to the picnic as if somehow that’s going to make me conciliatory,” he said. “So it’s silly, in a way, but it’s also just really sad that this is what it’s come to. But petty vindictiveness like this; it makes you … wonder about the quality of people you are dealing with.”
Mr. Paul told reporters that he attended picnics hosted by Presidents Joseph R. Biden and Barack Obama, but when he called the White House this time to confirm his invitation, he was told that he was not invited. He said he had family members flying into Washington to attend the event, including his 6-month-old grandson, who he said owns a “Make America Great Again” hat.
“I just find this incredibly petty,” Mr. Paul continued. “I have been, I think, nothing but polite to the president. I have been an intellectual opponent, a public policy opponent, and he’s chosen now to uninvite me from the picnic and say to my grandson, ’[You] can’t come to the picnic.’”
Mr. Paul is one of the Republican senators who have expressed reservations about the impact the legislation will have on the deficit, potentially thwarting Mr. Trump’s goal of having the bill on his desk by July Fourth.
The lawmaker has held firm to his belief that the Big Beautiful Bill will “explode the debt” and has criticized spending cuts in the bill as “wimpy and anemic.” He also suggested cutting billions of dollars to fund Mr. Trump’s border wall from the bill.
White House aide Stephen Miller countered the senator, posting on X, “Rand just conceded he has no substantive objections to any provision in the bill — because he knows it’s a big tax cut combined with a big spending cut combined with permanent border security.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.