“We’ve gotten him to endorse in a lot of these races around the country, some where there are primaries and some where there aren’t, but could be,” Thune said. “And I think just having the president’s endorsement, particularly for a lot of our incumbents, is a welcome development politically, and certainly should make the prospect of a primary a lot less and certainly a lot less expensive.”

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Thune, responsible for steering a constellation of outside groups that will spend heavily to defend the GOP’s Senate majority, cited the success he’s had in clearing the primary field with Trump’s help, naming North Carolina and Iowa — two GOP states where the incumbent is retiring — and Michigan, one of their top pickup opportunities.

But he acknowledged several races where he’s been unable to get Trump off the sidelines, all but guaranteeing drawn-out primaries that could drain party resources and leave the eventual nominee bloodied.

At the top of the list is Texas, where four-term incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is fending off two big-name primary challengers. Thune is also vouching for Republicans in safely red seats, including Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), whose vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges as he left office in 2021 has become political fodder for a crowded primary field.

Cassidy has since tried to repair his relationship with the president and hopes he’ll stay neutral.

“Where we’ve got incumbents running, we’re endorsing and supporting them and hoping eventually the president comes around to the same position,” Thune said.

Trump’s reluctance is grounded, in part, on his desire to pick a winner. He endorsed a record number of candidates in 2024, but often shies away from contests with no clear front-runner. In other cases, Trump’s team rewards loyalty and has reportedly explored a possible primary challenge to Cassidy from Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA).

Trump’s involvement has in the past hobbled Republicans’ chances of capturing winnable seats, as was the case in Arizona last year or Georgia the cycle before, with general election losses blamed on his backing of flawed candidates.

But Republicans also understand the currency of Trump’s endorsement with the party base and believe it is an undisputed help when it comes to Senate primaries.

Cornyn, crediting Thune with asking Trump to back him “numerous” times, told the Washington Examiner, “We all know that if he endorsed me in the primary, that the primary would be over, but he’s got a lot of other important things to think about and do.”

Thune’s outreach to the White House is taking place alongside the twin jobs of recruitment and fundraising. Thune was unable to land Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) in Georgia, opening up a mud-slinging, three-way primary for the seat of Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), but has found success elsewhere on the Senate map. 

In New Hampshire, Republicans managed to recruit John Sununu, a former senator and heir to a family political dynasty, and could have a late candidate in Minnesota, where ex-NFL sportscaster Michele Tafoya is leaning toward entering in the new year.

Thune will also benefit from an emerging truce between Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk, who briefly flirted with launching primary challenges against congressional Republicans after he was forced out as a White House adviser.

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Instead, Thune said that Musk is opening up his wallet for Senate Republicans and has already cut checks for one of their “main entities.” As majority leader, Thune is tasked with fundraising for the Senate Leadership Fund and its related super PACs.

“He’s been very helpful,” Thune said. “I welcome that obviously, and the more he wants to do, the more we welcome.”

Thune added: “He’s weighing in early, and I hope he weighs in often, in a big way, because the stakes I don’t think could be higher in 2026.”

Thune has separately raised money for North Carolina’s Michael Whatley, attending fundraisers for him and a slate of Senate incumbents in Ohio, Texas, and beyond. Whatley is running to replace Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and already has the endorsement of Trump.

“He’s been all over. He’s been to North Carolina already,” Tillis said of Thune. “It’s a tough job, but he’s absolutely focused on it.”

As of now, Thune is staying out of the primary in Georgia, though he said Kemp offers him updates on the state of the race on a “fairly regular basis.” He has also stayed neutral in Kentucky, where Republicans are choosing a successor to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the former majority leader.

Yet Thune has invited rare backlash as Republicans line up behind Sununu in New Hampshire’s GOP primary.

Thune declined to say whether he urged Scott Brown, the other Republican candidate, to bow out, only offering up that “we always have very candid conversations,” but he has repeatedly nodded toward Sununu, a former House colleague, as the more electable of the two.

“I mean, Scott’s a friend of mine. And so, you know, those are always challenging, difficult circumstances when you get friends who are running. But for us, it’s obviously going to be about who has the best chance of picking up a seat, which we think we have a really good shot at. And you know, clearly the polling right now is favorable for John Sununu.”

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In response, Brown took a veiled shot at Thune, claiming that “President Trump and his agenda are being served poorly by the GOP Senate.”

“Rather than meddling in competitive primaries, Republican senators should get off their rear ends and start passing President Trump’s agenda into law, especially with the House majority hanging on a razor’s edge,” Brown said.

“The One Big Beautiful Bill was great, but what’s next in 2026? If there is a plan, no one knows what it is,” he added.

Thune’s level of involvement in Senate primaries underscores the stakes of next year’s election, where Trump stands to lose full control of Washington if either the House or Senate falls to Democrats.

Republicans feel somewhat comfortable they’ll be able to retain the Senate given the smaller set of competitive seats this cycle and the size of their 53-seat majority. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has managed to land a series of strong candidates who will force Republicans to spread resources across the map.

Schumer secured Janet Mills (D-ME), the sitting governor of Maine, to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the most vulnerable Republican of the 2026 cycle, plus ex-Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina and former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio.

There is even the possibility that Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK), who represented an at-large House seat until January, could run against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in Alaska. Sullivan is among the Republicans Trump has endorsed at the urging of Thune.

Thune is still holding out hope that Trump will engage in some of the more costly primaries and said he’s discussed them all with Trump and his political team.

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“At some point, my assumption is, when he believes it’s advantageous, politically advantageous to do it, maybe he’ll weigh in,” Thune said.

But he argued Republicans are well-positioned to win next year and would emerge from primary season with a slate of candidates who can maintain, or even grow, their majority.

“I still think, like with Georgia, when that primary is resolved, I still think that’s going to be a competitive race. You know, I think Mike Rogers is in a great spot in Michigan, and we talked about New Hampshire and Sununu — I think there are some opportunities on the map,” Thune said.

Apart from candidates, Thune emphasized turning out Trump’s base with a ground game that defies the voting slump common in a midterm year and a “record of accomplishment,” anchored to Trump’s tax law, that Republicans plan to plaster on the airwaves.

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Thune declined to predict how many seats Republicans would have in the next Congress but said he tries to “underpromise and overdeliver.”

“You know, our goal, obviously, is to keep the majority, and anything we can do that would build on or expand on it would be frosting on the cake,” Thune added.