Donald Trump strong-armed Republican senators into rejecting a bill that would have forced him to end the Iran war after erupting at lawmakers in a closed-door meeting for daring to rein in his power.

The President pressured two of his most outspoken critics, Senators Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy, to shoot down a Democratic-led resolution Wednesday night that would have forced Trump to seek congressional approval to continue the war in Iran.

Four Republican senators had previously backed a similar resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s war powers, setting off an explosive closed-door screaming match between the President and Republican lawmakers.

Behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, Trump confronted Senate Republicans over their rebellion as Senator Cassidy tried to explain their reasoning. The President hurled personal insults, calling him a ‘lunatic’ and ordering him to ‘sit down.’ 

When Cassidy refused and called Trump ‘brother,’ the President shot back that he wasn’t his brother and mocked the senator over his recent primary loss, which Cassidy took as a deliberate attempt to bully him.

Trump loyalist Senator John Kennedy described the President as ‘mad as a murder hornet’ during the meeting.  

However, just hours after the showdown, Cassidy and Paul were quietly summoned to the White House’s Situation Room, where Vice President JD Vance talked them out of tying Trump’s hands on a looming Iran peace deal.

‘Since hostilities seem to be over and the President asked me to give consideration to his negotiating position, I will do so,’ Paul wrote on X. ‘My vote of present is a way to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace.’

The President pressured two of his most outspoken critics to shoot down a Democratic-led bill that would have forced Trump to seek congressional approval to continue the war in Iran

Four Republican senators had previously backed a similar resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s war powers, setting off an explosive closed-door screaming match between the President and Republican lawmakers

Senators Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy were quietly summoned to the White House’s Situation Room, where Vice President JD Vance talked them out of tying Trump’s hands on a looming Iran peace deal

The Wednesday night was brought forward by Democratic Virginia Senator Time Kaine after Republicans previously signaled they were open to placing limits on Trump’s war powers. 

Paul, a staunch anti-war voice in the Senate, had voted for every previous resolution aimed at curbing Trump’s ability to wage war since the conflict began.

The GOP senators’ willingness to openly defy Trump marks the most significant Republican rebuke of his presidency yet, and a sign of the widening rift within his party. 

Democratic lawmakers have made repeated failed votes since the start of the war aimed at blocking Trump from continuing to strike the regime. 

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of committing armed forces to hostilities abroad and bars those forces from remaining more than 60 days without congressional authorization.

Trump’s meeting with the senators followed his controversial decision to abruptly cancel a signing ceremony for a bipartisan housing bill.

The President said he would not sign the bill until the Senate passed his controversial Save America Act, which requires Americans to present a voter ID to cast an electoral ballot.

Asked about Trump’s refusal to hold the housing bill hostage, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters, ‘That was his call to make.’

Trump is currently locked in a high-stakes negotiations with the Iranian regime over a pending nuclear agreement to end the war 

Cassidy lost his primary election after Trump backed a Republican challenger

As he left the Capitol building, Trump called it a ‘great meeting’ but said he was frustrated with some Republican lawmakers.

‘We like our leader. We like everybody, really, in the room,’ Trump said. ‘I don’t like a few people, but that’s okay, I think you know who they are.’ 

Thune did not escort the President out of the Capitol following his remarks to the press about GOP lawmakers.

Trump’s relationship with the Senate GOP has been on the decline since the President endorsed primary challengers to two Republican incumbents seen as major allies of Thune: Texas Senator John Cornyn and Cassidy.

Once a reliably loyal bloc, the chamber’s GOP majority has grown increasingly willing to break with the President on questions of war powers, spending, and the limits of executive authority.