Susan Collins criticized one of the president’s favorite topics.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins threw President Donald Trump under the bus in a fiery debate.
Collins, 73, participated in his third debate Tuesday with his Democratic challenger for Maine, Troy Jackson, 58.
The vulnerable Republican has represented Maine in the Senate for nearly 30 years and is seeking her sixth term in the U.S. Senate, something no state senator has done before.
But Collins faces an uphill battle, with Jackson garnering 50 percent support in a Washington Post poll, compared to 46 percent in favor of his re-election. The survey was conducted between September 30 and October 5.
Troy Jackson looks exasperated during his latest debate with Susan Collins.
Last month, she revealed she had tremors that she was treating, a health issue she kept secret for decades. In August, she asked her supporters to donate just $5 to “help us put gas in the tank” of her campaign bus, a controversial move given that Collins’ husband owns thousands of dollars in oil and gas stocks and she has repeatedly voted to support Trump’s war on Iran.
During Tuesday’s debate, the two politicians discussed the war in Iran, which began on February 28, when Collins distanced himself from the president.
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Jackson said Trump had dragged America into war, then noted: “He doesn’t have a plan to get out of it. It’s not going the way he hoped and we’re in a real disaster. We’re in another forever war, and again, Senator Collins could have stopped it.”
He added: “Right now, there’s no plan to get out of this war, and it could last months, it could last another year…you’re going to see people who are going to go bankrupt, you’re going to see people who are going to lose their homes…because Donald Trump wanted to play war games and when Susan Collins had the opportunity to stop him, because she’s the Appropriations chair, she didn’t do that.” »
US Senator Susan Collins opposed President Trump.
Collins, who became the first Republican woman to chair the Senate Appropriations Committee when she assumed the role in January 2025, responded by saying she voted to limit Trump’s war powers once the military conflict had passed 60 days.
In March and April, she voted against attempts to rein in America’s involvement in the war, the Daily Beast reported in August, citing Senate records. Later in April, as the war and its impact on gas prices made the conflict very unpopular with voters, Collins began voting against the war, according to the Maine Morning Star.
“I agree that the president didn’t have a good plan,” Collins admitted Tuesday. “He should have anticipated the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which some of the world’s oil passes, and I don’t think that was well anticipated, although it should have been.”
The Republican said, “Actually, Troy and I agree that the war needs to end. And there were no votes. I voted no. I voted with the Democrats to end the war, but there weren’t enough votes to make that happen.”
During the debate, Collins also highlighted another issue on which she diverged from Trump.
Troy Jackson participates in several debates with Susan Collins.
“I have been extremely outspoken in my opposition to Canadian tariffs and have voted repeatedly to repeal them,” she said. Collins voted four times to join Democrats opposed to Trump’s tariffs on Canada, according to PolitiFact.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
During a debate last week, Collins had another embarrassing moment when she was roasted online after being asked about her vote to allow Trump’s controversial “Big Beautiful Bill” to advance in the Senate, leading to cuts to Medicaid and increased health care costs.
Jackson then pointed out that Collins “has been a government employee her whole life, she’s always had health care, she’s always had a stable income. It’s not like that for most of us; health care is a real challenge and she made it worse by pushing the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Collins responded: “First of all, I haven’t been insured my whole life. I had a year when I was running for governor in 1994 where I couldn’t afford health insurance.”
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