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After the Exit
Thom Tillis and the Book He Waited to Write
A retiring Republican senator says he regrets confirming Pete Hegseth, should have stopped RFK Jr., and that many colleagues privately agree.
By Daniel Rosenthal · Published · AI-written, human-reviewed
What did Tillis say about Trump's Cabinet?
In How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents, released in early October 2026, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) calls his deciding vote to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in January 2025 the "biggest regret of my career." He writes that he should have stopped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from becoming Health and Human Services secretary and says he has to live with the damage he believes Kennedy's tenure has caused.
The book also sharply criticizes former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Noem appears on the cover. Tillis predicts a "bloodbath" for Republicans in the November 2026 midterms.
A note on viral quotes. Several lines circulating on social media (about Gabbard and a Mensa chapter, Lutnick and squirrels, and Noem and her dog) did not appear in the AP or Spectrum News coverage we reviewed. We will add them if they are confirmed from the book or a recorded interview.
Sources: AP via ABC News · AP via Philadelphia Inquirer · Spectrum News
Does Tillis blame Trump himself?
Mostly no. He directs his anger at the president's appointees, writing that "my beef is not with him, but the idiots he's got working for him." He calls Trump a rare political talent while warning about a slide toward authoritarianism and urging Republicans to push back more often.
That distinction matters. Tillis is not saying what Rex Tillerson or John Kelly later said about Trump personally (see Part 2). His case is about the people around Trump and the Republicans who confirmed them.
Sources: AP via CTV News
Why is he saying this now?
Tillis announced in June 2025 that he would not seek reelection, after Trump attacked him for opposing the Medicaid cuts in the tax and spending package. Trump attacked him again in May 2026, calling him a quitter on social media. Tillis leaves the Senate in January 2027 and published the book in his final months in office, with no primary left to lose.
He also writes that at least 30 Republican colleagues privately voiced reservations about nominees but praised them once cameras arrived, and that many went along with the Trump team out of fear for their careers. Mitt Romney described the same private-public split in 2023 (see Part 3).
Sources: AP via Philadelphia Inquirer
How has the White House responded?
Spectrum News asked the White House for comment on October 5, 2026, and had not received a response by publication. We will update this page if the White House or the officials named respond on the record.
Sources: Spectrum News
The series
- Part 1: Thom Tillis and the book he waited to write (you are here)
- Part 2: The first-term Cabinet and White House, after they left
- Part 3: Republicans in Congress who spoke on the way out
- Part 4: Second-term exits, and why most stay quiet
- Part 5: The pattern, and the case against reading too much into it