Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) brushed aside a warning on ABC’s “The View” Monday that President Donald Trump might give out his personal cell number, telling the hosts, “I have his number too.”
The exchange came as Tillis discussed his new book and his public break with Trump over what he has called the president’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Tillis announced last year he would retire from the Senate after his current term, following that fallout.
Co-host Sunny Hostin pressed Tillis on private exchanges he recounts in the book, after Trump reportedly called him a “loser” and claimed credit for pushing him out of the Senate. Tillis writes that he told the president he “would have immediately told you to go blank yourself” and that he does not “take this B.S. from anyone, including you, Mr. President.”
Asked whether Trump ever responded, Tillis said, “Actually, we’ve talked or texted back and forth several times since then.”
Co-host Ana Navarro warned, “He’s gonna give your phone away after this,” a reference to reports that Trump had given out Sen. Tom Cotton’s cell number amid a policy dispute. Tillis replied, “With all due respect, I have his number, too.”
Hostin followed up by asking whether Tillis was worried about Trump retaliating once the book reaches him. Tillis said he was not.
“Look, we could dedicate a whole show to me, the book ends of overreach and vindictive prosecutions, etc. For people to forget about their party’s overreach puts that party in peril in the next election. That’s my whole point. Most of the people in this country live between the 35 yard lines in politics. And the party that figures that out first is going to have a structural majority because the rest of us are tired of the garbage,” Tillis said.
Tillis’s comments offer a window into the strained relationship between the retiring North Carolina senator and the president, even as the two have reportedly kept lines of communication open despite their public clash.
