President Trump is looking to oust Rep. Thomas Massie in the Republican primary next year, saying the Kentucky Republican has proven to be a MAGA imposter.

Mr. Massie is one of the few Republicans in Congress who has been willing to break with Mr. Trump over his spending plans, and now his decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities without congressional approval.

“Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. “Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him.”

Mr. Trump said Mr. Massie is a “negative force who almost always Votes ‘NO,’ no matter how good something may be.”

“The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard,” Mr. Trump said. “MAGA is not about lazy, grandstanding, nonproductive politicians, of which Thomas Massie is definitely one.”

Mr. Massie says that Mr. Trump’s strike against Iran’s nuclear sites was not constitutional. On Sunday, he promoted a war powers resolution he is pushing along with Rep. Ro Khanna, California Democrat, that would prohibit U.S. involvement in Iran.

Mr. Massie said he represents part of the MAGA coalition that elected Mr. Trump.

“We were tired of endless wars in the Middle East, and tired of wars in Eastern Europe,” Mr Massie said. “We were promised that we would put our veterans, our immigration policies, and our infrastructure first.”

“I wouldn’t call my side of the MAGA base isolationists,” he said. “We are exhausted, we are tired from all of these wars, and we’re non-interventionists.”

Meanwhile, Axios reported that Mr. Trump’s political team is pushing to oust Mr. Massie in his GOP primary race next year.

Mr. Massie was one of two Republicans last month who voted against Mr. Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” citing his concerns about the mounting national deficits and debt.

The proposal, which extends the 2017 Trump tax cuts and increases spending on border security and the military, is estimated to increase the federal deficits by $3.8 trillion over a decade.

Mr. Massie called the proposal a “debt-bomb ticking.”

“Under the taxing and spending levels of this bill, we’re going to rack up, the authors say, $20 trillion of new debt over the next ten years. I’m telling you it’s closer to $30 trillion of new debt in the next 30 years,” Mr. Massie said.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.