'Everybody's going to jail': Rebel GOP rep's cutting joke about joining Trump's cabinet

A Republican congressman fighting for his political life against a Trump-backed primary challenger delivered a cutting and candid assessment of what it's like to work for the president.

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky told The Atlantic that he used to joke about the one condition he'd place on any Trump cabinet job: a plane.

“I need a small jet capable of reaching Argentina on the tarmac, with enough fuel in it to get out of the country, if I work in his Cabinet,” as Massie told it, “because everybody’s going to get impeached or fired or go to jail.”

The quip landed with extra weight given that Massie said he was in discussions about becoming agriculture secretary after endorsing Trump late in the 2024 campaign. Trump had been appreciative of the endorsement, the two men had spoken by phone, and the president had personally suggested the timing of the announcement. The cabinet job never materialized.

Instead, Trump has spent the past year trying to destroy Massie politically, calling him a "totally ineffective LOSER" on Truth Social, a "moron" at the National Prayer Breakfast, and "the worst" at an event in Massie's own district.

Massie, for his part, treats the feud with characteristic dry wit. He told The Atlantic he doesn't feel like he's fighting with Trump at all, describing their differences as mere "policy disagreements."

“I don’t feel like I’m fighting with him,” Massie insisted.

In that same interview, Massie claimed the existence of a shadow network of Republicans in Congress who privately admit they'd defy Trump under certain circumstances.