Republican Congressman Thomas Massie has already begun preparing his political return towards 2028, just days after losing the Republican primary in Kentucky against Ed Gallrein, a candidate backed by President Donald Trump.

Massie confirmed that he submitted documentation to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to keep a possible federal candidacy active.

“I registered with the FEC for the 2028 House race,” the legislator wrote on his X account. He added that registration will allow him to raise funds and continue his political activities while he decides whether he will seek federal office again.

The decision comes after one of the most significant internal defeats for a Republican critic of Trump. On May 19, Massie lost the Republican primary for Kentucky's fourth district to Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL directly supported by Trump, a result that was interpreted as a new demonstration of the political control that the president maintains within the Republican Party.

According to experts, the race was watched nationally because Massie had become one of the most consistent Republican opponents of several initiatives promoted by Trump during his second term.

The Kentucky legislator had publicly questioned the government's tariff policy, the increase in federal spending and the tax package promoted by Trump.

Massie even maintained an independent stance within Congress for years, voting on several occasions against initiatives supported by the Republican leadership and the White House.

The Republican gained recent notoriety for promoting, together with Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, initiatives related to the disclosure of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein case; this activism increased tensions with Trump and sectors aligned with the MAGA movement.

However, despite the defeat, Massie made it clear that he will not abandon politics and that he will continue to be active during his remaining months in Congress. “I have seven more months,” he declared after knowing the election result, promising to continue confronting Trump from Washington.

The confrontation between Trump and Massie became one of the most visible cases of the internal dispute within the Republican Party between the traditional conservative wing and the sector dominated by the MAGA movement.

Although Massie formally registered a possible candidacy for the House of Representatives in 2028, different media have also mentioned his name as a possible candidate for the governorship of Kentucky or even as a figure of the Republican libertarian wing for future national races.