President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) over the weekend, using his Truth Social account to amplify posts criticizing the Florida Republican and her immigration proposal — a sharp turn less than two months after he endorsed her reelection bid. According to Breitbart News, the Saturday messages took aim at Salazar’s bill, which she has promoted as a pathway to legal status and work authorization for a large number of migrants.
The timing is notable. Salazar cruised through her August primary with 81 percent of the vote, a win that came with Trump’s backing. Now the former president is signaling opposition to the centerpiece of her legislative agenda as she tries to build momentum for it in the House.
What the Bill Would Do
According to Breitbart, Salazar’s “Dignidad” bill would legalize and import roughly 17 million migrants. The congresswoman has framed the measure partly as a way to supply employers with what she has described as “cheap labor” — a selling point that has drawn support from business-aligned GOP donor networks but has also become a liability among immigration hawks.
Trump’s posts, per Breitbart’s account, emphasized that Salazar is “being bankrolled and applauded by many of the big-money donor groups in the GOP,” naming Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, among her backers. The messages also singled out Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) as an example of GOP members supporting the measure.
A Discharge Petition Looms
The immediate context for Trump’s social-media barrage appears to be a procedural maneuver. Supporters of the bill are relying on a discharge petition — a mechanism that can force a floor vote if enough members sign on — to bring the legislation up during the lame-duck session after the November election. That window would allow retiring lawmakers to cast a final vote on the measure before leaving office, a dynamic critics describe as a last-minute favor to business donors.
Trump’s posts, Breitbart reported, are likely intended to discourage other Republican members from adding their names to the petition.
Salazar’s Video Rebuke
The feud has been building since mid-September, when Salazar released a video that directly challenged Trump’s immigration enforcement record. In the ad, she acknowledged that some of his efforts “have gone too far,” citing a statistic that in July, 50 percent of the 50,000 people detained had no criminal record.
She went on to warn the president about his advisers, saying, “Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy,” and adding that the Hispanic voters who helped him win in 2024 “feel betrayed today.”
Salazar then appealed to Trump’s sense of legacy, comparing his potential role on immigration to Abraham Lincoln’s on slavery and Ronald Reagan’s on communism. She insisted she was not seeking amnesty, but rather a “dignified life” for migrants. “Only you can do that,” she said.
Trump’s Saturday posts did not echo that flattery. Instead, they amplified criticism of Salazar and her allies, rejecting the framing she offered in the video.
GOP Rift on Display
The exchange lays bare a divide within the Republican conference over immigration policy, pitting business-oriented members who favor expanded legal immigration and guest-worker provisions against those who prioritize enforcement and deportation. Salazar’s bill has attracted support from both Republican and Democratic members, according to Breitbart, which noted that she is “being backed by many Democrats who promote migrants above citizens.”
The president’s decision to weigh in so forcefully — and so publicly — against a member he previously endorsed underscores how quickly the politics of immigration can shift within his coalition. It also raises the stakes for the discharge petition effort, which needs Republican signatures to succeed. If Trump’s posts deter even a handful of potential signatories, the bill’s path to a floor vote could narrow considerably.
Representatives for Salazar and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/09/27/trump-slams-amnesty-salazar/