Trump gloats over Romney retirement: ‘He did not serve with distinction’

Former President Trump celebrated Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) decision Wednesday not to seek another term, calling his frequent critic’s retirement “fantastic news” for Utah and the Republican Party.

“Mitt Romney, sometimes referred to as Pierre Delecto, will not be seeking a second term in the U.S. Senate, where he did not serve with distinction,” Trump wrote in all caps on Truth Social, referencing the pseudonym Romney used for a private Twitter account.

“A big primary fight against him was in the offing, but now that will not be necessary. Congrats to all. Make America great again!” Trump wrote.

Romney, who is 76, announced Wednesday he will retire from the Senate at the end of his term in 2024.

“I have spent my last 25 years in public service of one kind or another. At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-eighties,” Romney said in a press release. “Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders. They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.”

Romney was expected to face a primary challenge if he sought reelection.

Trump and Romney have had a complicated, evolving relationship over the last decade.

Romney welcomed Trump’s backing in 2012 when Romney was the GOP presidential nominee. Romney later become an outspoken critic of Trump during the 2016 presidential race before meeting with Trump and being considered for a potential Cabinet role.

Trump went on to endorse Romney in his 2018 Senate bid, but the Utah senator has since become one of the most prominent Trump critics remaining in the GOP.

Romney was the lone Republican senator who voted in 2020 to convict Trump after he was impeached for pressuring Ukraine to open an investigation into the Biden family. Romney again voted to convict Trump after he was impeached in 2021 for his role in the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, but that time he was joined by six other GOP senators.