It was a shouting match: Trump and Bill Cassidy clashed over the war with Iran

Donald Trump had a heated argument with Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) during the president’s lunch with Republican senators. The argument arose in connection with the vote by the Senate on the war powers resolution. This was stated by Cassidy himself and other senators who participated in the meeting.

The episode is the latest chapter in an increasingly tense relationship between the president and the senator from Louisiana, who have clashed repeatedly since January 2025. In fact, Cassidy lost his Senate reelection bid this year after Trump endorsed Congresswoman Julia Letlow in the Louisiana primary.

Against this backdrop, the two clashed again on Wednesday in the Senate over the unfolding war with Iran.

Trump was “mad as a killer hornet”

The incident took place during a closed-door lunch between Trump and members of the Republican caucus. According to a report by the New York Post, the president criticized Cassidy for voting in favor of a resolution to halt the military campaign against Iran. Cassidy was one of four Republicans who voted alongside Democrats in favor of the resolution. The other three were Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Rand Paul (Kentucky).

The resolution is based on the War Powers Act of 1973, a law that establishes mechanisms for Congress to oversee and limit the use of the Armed Forces in armed conflicts that have not been formally authorized by the legislature.

According to The Hill, the discussion was sparked by a question the president posed on the air: "Why would anybody vote for the War Powers Resolution?" As Cassidy himself recounted, he stood up and said the following: “Is that a rhetorical question, or would you like to really know?”

"I stood and said, ‘You have not told the American people what’s going on. It was supposed to last four weeks, it’s lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved and I want to know what’s going on,’” the Louisiana senator recounted.

Cassidy has repeatedly expressed concern about the duration of the conflict and the information the administration has publicly shared about the military operation.

Trump then reportedly raised his voice to question the senator’s vote, which led to a heated exchange. “He did not particularly care for my comments, raised his voice. I lost my temper, that’s not appropriate – it’s the Irish in me. I matched his tone and his volume and it went back and forth,” the senator continued.

In addition, Cassidy recounted some personal attacks launched by Trump: “What does President Trump say? ‘Oh, you lost the election,’ that sort of thing, whatever comes to mind to belittle another person.”

Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) sarcastically remarked that the exchange had been “very pleasant” before going into the details of the argument: “Very much like a hospital board meeting when a bunch of doctors are yelling at each other, but at the end of the day, we’ll figure out a way to get along. Voices were raised. I think the vote yesterday on the War Powers Act, the president’s very disappointed.”

Another senator to comment on the discussion was John Kennedy (R-LA). The eloquent senator from Louisiana stated that Trump was “mad as a murder hornet about the War Powers vote.”

As for the content of the meeting, Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) noted that the discussion was “very good.” “He gave us probably more of a briefing in terms of what they were doing over there than we’ve heard to date,” he added.