Well, I guess now we know what it takes to really tick off President Trump: vote against one of his buddies.

For the first time in his second term, the president went on a tirade against Susan Collins, Maine’s esteemed senior senator. To quote, in full, his post on Truth Social: “Republicans, when in doubt, vote the exact opposite of Senator Susan Collins. Generally speaking, you can’t go wrong. Thank you for your attention to this matter and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Let’s unpack this a bit. First, and foremost, Trump is exhorting other Republicans to vote the opposite of Collins, so I guess he’s addressing other members of the U.S. House and Senate, not you or me? After all, he didn’t call for anyone to vote against Collins, just to to vote the opposite of her.

That might not seem like much, but it’s quite a difference. If I started voting the exact opposite of Collins on everything, it wouldn’t change anything — I don’t vote on legislation or confirmations. I vote for candidates — or, you know, against them.

The next sentence is interesting, too: “Generally speaking, you can’t go wrong.” So, there are obviously times when he’s happy with how Susan votes, and times when he isn’t. At a certain level, that makes perfect sense: Collins sometimes votes against his initiatives, but sometimes votes with him.

That’s certainly a better record, in his view, than our other U.S. senator, Angus King, who pretty much always votes against him on everything — and who he’s always completely — and correctly, in my view — ignored. I’m sure Collins voting with Trump on anything ever is enough to get the Democratic base to completely hate her, but that won’t do it for a lot of voters.

Don’t forget Trump got an electoral vote out of Maine; the entire state doesn’t hate him.

Then there’s the final sentence: a polite send-off and his slogan. He didn’t call for anyone to primary Collins, and he didn’t extend the rant any further. Trump’s been known to go on very long rants on social media; for him this was a short one.

He didn’t call for a primary against Collins, or for Mainers to boot her out of office. This wasn’t the kind of rant that led Thom Tillis to decide that he couldn’t even manage to win renomination in North Carolina, let alone reelection.

Now, obviously North Carolina and Maine are quite different politically. North Carolina could probably elect a more conservative U.S. senator than Tillis, who’d vote with Trump’s agenda completely. Maine? Given the current state of the Maine Republican Party, it’s difficult to think of any Republican who could get elected to the United States Senate at all, let alone one who’d be more loyal to Trump.

Another question, though, is what caused Trump to criticize Collins at this particular moment. Much of the media coverage has zeroed in on her vote against his budget cuts, but that was a few days earlier. The real problem he had with Collins, I suspect, is that she voted against confirming Emil Bove, one of his attorneys, for a seat on the federal judiciary.

Her vote didn’t make a difference in that case — JD Vance broke the tie, allowing him to be confirmed — but it’s the sort of thing that Trump notices and takes personally. Sure, Vance had to break the ties on the rescissions package and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as well, but that doesn’t hit nearly as close to home for Trump as the nomination of a friend.

Love him or hate him, it’s important to remember that politics is transactional to Trump, and he knows when to land his punches and when to lay off. For instance, he absolutely roasted Tillis for consistently voting against him. He gave Susan Collins a pass — until now.

Even when he criticized Collins, he did so lightly. This only further reinforces my ongoing contention: It’s not that Collins is changing her votes to fit the circumstances, but that she doesn’t control the circumstances.

In Trump’s first term, she voted against repealing the Affordable Care Act, which no doubt infuriated him. She was one of three Republicans to oppose repealing the ACA, just as she’s often one of three Republicans voting against Trump today. The times may have changed; Collins and Trump haven’t.