In one of the most politically loaded episodes of the year, President Donald Trump has unleashed a blistering attack on Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar, just days after granting him and his wife, Imelda, a full presidential pardon. The target of Trump’s ire? Cuellar’s decision to run for reelection — as a Democrat.
Cuellar, a longtime congressman representing a South Texas border district, confirmed last week that he intends to remain within the Democratic Party despite Trump’s dramatic legal rescue. That decision clearly didn’t sit well with Trump, who took to Truth Social on Sunday to lambast the congressman’s loyalty — or what he sees as a lack thereof.
In a scathing post, Trump recounted how Cuellar and his wife were “mercilessly” targeted by the Biden administration’s Justice Department, which charged them with allegedly accepting $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijani officials and a Mexican financial institution — in exchange for using Cuellar’s congressional influence to further foreign interests. The couple had maintained their innocence throughout, but the case loomed large, with a trial originally set for 2026.
Trump’s pardon wiped that slate clean. But what he apparently didn’t expect was for Cuellar to turn around and reaffirm his affiliation with the very party Trump holds responsible for the charges in the first place.
“Can you imagine???” Trump wrote, incredulous that Cuellar would continue to align himself with the “Radical Left Lunatics” who, Trump claims, sought to destroy not just Cuellar, but his “lovely wife” and “two young daughters.”
The president pointed to Cuellar’s historically tougher-than-average stance on border security as the real reason behind the legal pressure. “He was against illegals pouring into our country, totally unchecked and unvetted,” Trump said, framing Cuellar’s prosecution as political retribution for daring to side with border enforcement. He went so far as to call his decision to pardon Cuellar “potentially life-saving” and based on principle, fairness, and the reality of a weaponized justice system.
But the closing line of Trump’s post made the stakes clear: “Such a lack of LOYALTY… Oh well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy.”
Cuellar, for his part, remains unapologetically centrist — a political stance that has long put him at odds with the Democratic establishment, especially on immigration and border enforcement. “I’m a conservative Democrat,” he reiterated this week, adding, “I want to see the president succeed… I will work with President Trump.” But working with Trump, it seems, is not the same as aligning with him.
The congressman has broken with his party multiple times, supporting GOP-led legislation on border crime and women’s sports, and was among the few Democrats to criticize President Biden’s border policies. He even supported a bipartisan measure to end the 2025 government shutdown. Still, in Trump’s eyes, remaining within the Democratic Party — especially after a pardon — is an act of political betrayal.
