President Donald Trump on Thursday reversed course and said that Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., will be invited to the White House picnic after all, one day after the three-term senator said he had been disinvited.
Paul said Wednesday he was not given a reason for being disinvited to the annual picnic held at the South Lawn, attended by every Democrat and Republican lawmaker, adding he wasn't sure if the decision was made by Trump or White House aides.
But Trump took to social media on Thursday to say that "of course" Paul and his family were invited.
"He's the toughest vote in the history of the U.S. Senate, but why wouldn't he be? 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," Trump wrote. "I look forward to seeing Rand."
Paul responded in a post to X that the reversal is a "promising sign of things to come." And, "if there's one thing @POTUS and I agree on, it's that my wife is beautiful."
Paul has been a vocal opponent of the Big, Beautiful Bill that is now before the Senate, most acutely for the raising of the debt limit, which is a nonstarter for the Kentucky senator. In fact, he has said he would vote for the bill if raising the limit is removed from the bill.
"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 public," Paul told a gaggle of reporters Wednesday. "It really makes me lose a lot of respect I once had for Donald Trump."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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