President Donald Trump said Thursday that “of course” Sen. Rand Paul is invited to the annual congressional picnic later in the day, amid a dispute with the Kentucky Republican over his invite to the long-held bipartisan gathering.
“Of course Senator Rand Paul and his beautiful wife and family are invited to the BIG White House Party tonight. He’s the toughest vote in the history of the U.S. Senate, but why wouldn’t he be?” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Besides, it gives me more time to get his Vote on the Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, one of the greatest and most important pieces of legislation ever put before our Senators & Congressmen/women,” he continued.
CNN has reached out to Paul, who had previously claimed the White House disinvited him and his family from the picnic.
A libertarian-minded deficit hawk, Paul has in recent weeks raised deep concerns over Trump’s sweeping policy bill that is being negotiated on Capitol Hill ahead of Republicans’ self-imposed July 4 deadline. The senator has indicated he can’t support the package because it includes an increase of the national debt limit, but he’s said he’d be open to considering the overall legislation if GOP leaders removed that provision from it.
The president and his aides have bashed Paul over his position on the president’s megabill in recent days.
Paul on Wednesday evening accused the White House of “immaturity” and “petty vindictiveness,” claiming his invitation had been abruptly rescinded with no real explanation.
While the senator said at the time that it was unclear if the directive came directly from the president or “petty staffers,” he told reporters “the level of immaturity is beyond words,” and that he had lost “a lot of respect” for Trump.
“It’s just incredibly petty,” he said. “I’m arguing from a true belief and worry that our country is mired in debt and getting worse. And they choose to react by uninviting my grandson to the picnic. I don’t know. I just think it really makes me lose a lot of respect I once had for Donald Trump.”
CNN reached out to the White House on Wednesday for comment on Paul’s claims.
CNN’s Manu Raju, Alison Main and Aileen Graef contributed to this report.
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