Trump Uses Senate Leadership Race to Remind GOP: You’re Mine

Donald Trump and his right-hand man, Elon Musk, are alerting congressional Republicans as to who’s in charge as the president-elect’s allies begin their push to elevate a MAGA loyalist to lead the Senate.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a Trump ally, is now the frontrunner to become the next Senate majority leader to replace Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is stepping down from the post. Musk, the man who brought “Dark MAGA” to light, has backed his leadership bid.

Scott’s ascension in the race comes amid a flurry of endorsements from other MAGA insiders and Trump loyalists including Tucker Carlson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), and Laura Loomer, the right-wing conspiracy theorist and close Trump ally.

On Saturday, Carlson took to X to tell his 14.5 million followers to “Call your senator and demand a public endorsement of Rick Scott.”

Meanwhile, Kennedy claimed that, without Scott, Trump’s reform agenda would be “wobbly.”

Senate Republicans are scheduled to vote next week in the three-way race between Scott and Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and John Cornyn of Texas for the Senate gavel. Thune, the current Senate GOP whip, was a heavy favorite had Trump lost the presidential election.

But his victory, coupled with Republicans regaining control of the Senate, considerably changes the trajectory of the leadership race. And it underscores Trump’s tremendous power over the entire federal government as he returns to the White House with an iron grip over his party, which is set to control both chambers of Congress. (A few House races are still too close to call, but Republicans are all but assured of retaining control of the House of Representatives.)

Installing Trump’s preferred candidate as the top leader of the Senate will solidify the president-elect’s iron grip on Republicans in Congress, who the incoming president will need to pass legislation to implement his agenda—from tax cuts and tariffs to closing off the border and confirming conservative judges.

Trump’s longtime GOP political operative Susie Wiles (soon to be chief of staff) has close ties to Scott, who she helped put in the Florida governor’s mansion and in the Senate.

The Florida senator, who is intimately familiar with the quiet power wielded by Wiles, wasted no time congratulating her when Trump announced she would be his White House chief of staff.

“She is the perfect person for this role. She’s been a friend since I ran back in 2010 when she ran my first race for Governor,” Scott said on X. “She knows how to build a great team, is a true leader, a trusted advisor, and a brilliant tactician.”

And while Thune and his allies had urged Trump to “stay out of the race,” the president-elect on Sunday instead laid out his demands of the next Senate leader to make an end run around Democrats on judicial appointments ahead of his inauguration.