Catching up with Collins. It was an image that surprised everyone.
There was Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) standing way off to one side of the Oval Office on Feb. 3, a red “America is Back!” hat in hand. President Donald Trump briefly praised her for helping push through a $1 trillion-plus package of FY2026 spending bills.
“You’re doing good,” Trump told Collins, a key player in this year’s brutal, seemingly endless government funding fight.
Yes, that’s the same Susan Collins who Trump said “should never be elected again” after she and a handful of Senate Republicans voted to limit future U.S. military operations in Venezuela without congressional approval.
The same Susan Collins who voted to convict Trump at his Senate impeachment trial following the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection in 2021.
“It doesn’t please any president when I disagree with them,” Collins said of Trump during an interview in her Capitol Hill office. “This president in particular will be very public about our disagreements.”
Here’s the truth — not all politics is local in the Trump era. The new adage should be “all politics is transactional.”
Collins, who made her reelection bid official on Tuesday, needs Trump as much as he does her, although in vastly different ways. Collins justified her Oval Office appearance by noting it’s “just a fact” that she needs Trump’s signature for the appropriations bills.
The two are trying to coexist in a way that allows Collins to win a sixth term in November. Collins is the only Republican who can win a Senate race in Maine. Trump and the Senate GOP need to keep Maine red to protect their majority.
Tough environment. The 73-year-old Collins is clear-eyed about the challenge she faces this fall, with Democrats determined to make everything about Trump. They accuse Collins of refusing to stand up to an overly powerful president, even when it hurts Maine. Plus, as a Republican, Collins has to deal with Trump’s falling poll numbers and the midterm pressures most presidents face.
“I don’t underestimate that this is going to be a very tough race,” Collins said.
Pulling every lever. With so much at stake, Collins is using every bit of influence she’s amassed over four decades in office to help boost her reelection chances. Collins is also leaning on the Senate GOP leadership to pressure Trump and the administration when needed.
Collins secured nearly $426 million in earmarks for 156 projects this year. That huge haul is what being chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee means, and it’ll impact nearly everyone in the Pine Tree State. But that’s still not the full picture of just how much federal money Collins is steering back home.
There are hundreds of millions of dollars — potentially billions — for Bath Iron Works and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in defense contracts and infrastructure upgrades. Collins secured $190 million for rural Maine hospitals, part of a $50 billion fund she helped add to the One Big Beautiful Bill despite voting against the measure.
“Seniority counts,” Collins told us. “Being the chair of the Appropriations Committee gets me far more influence and clout and ability to get things done for the state of Maine and for the country.”
There are other ways Collins has sought special treatment for Maine during Trump’s tariff, funding and immigration wars.
When Trump imposed new tariffs on Canada, Collins pressured the president both publicly and privately for carveouts benefiting Maine. It’s worked in some cases, but Collins also voted against Trump on the issue, earning a public rebuke from him.
Trump just announced that he’ll allow fishing in areas that former President Barack Obama originally designated as protected, an effort he says benefits Maine fishermen.
In perhaps the most controversial move, the Trump administration scaled back Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Maine following Collins’ complaints. Collins pressured DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials on the issue after Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who’s seeking to take on Collins in November, made ICE raids the centerpiece of her first campaign ads.
In a statement, Mills described Collins as a reliable vote for Trump’s agenda, including his “extremist” Cabinet and judicial nominees.
“Seniority without backbone is just tenure,” Mills said. “In the Senate, I’ll use my vast legislative and policy experience to get results for Maine people, and I’ll fearlessly stand up to Trump — just like I have as governor.”
Graham Platner, the progressive insurgent in the Democratic primary, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Collins won’t say whether she prefers to face Mills or Platner. Yet Collins observed that the Mills vs. Platner contest is emblematic of a broader struggle within the Democratic Party about its future.
“President Trump was elected president,” Collins said. “And I think neither of them has come to grips with that fact.”
Collins’ hurdles. One of the biggest issues facing the longtime Maine senator is the expiration of the enhanced premium Obamacare subsidies. Tens of thousands of Mainers are facing sharply higher premiums or dropping health-care coverage, a huge number in a state with only 1.4 million residents. Collins has been involved in the so-far fruitless talks to extend those subsidies.
Other affordability concerns, including inflation, food and housing, coupled with an anemic job market, are big liabilities for Collins and other vulnerable Republicans.
Despite ultimately passing nearly all of the full-year funding bills, it’s been a difficult 12-month stretch for Collins. Trump and OMB Director Russ Vought have consistently undermined Congress’ power of the purse, from DOGE cuts to pocket rescissions. Collins’ detractors say she didn’t do enough to push back on these moves.
There have been real questions about whether those circumstances, paired with the treacherous national political environment for Republicans, would lead Collins to consider retiring.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has been caught between the competing demands of keeping Collins happy and staying in line with the White House. But Thune has also publicly stood up for Collins in the face of Trump’s attacks.
“There is one way to elect a Republican in the state of Maine, and that’s for Susan Collins to be the nominee,” Thune told us last month.
