WASHINGTON — Sen. Susan Collins appeared to deliver a pointed message to President Trump during her first debate of the election cycle: Don’t come to Maine.
Facing Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, the Republican senator twice sidestepped a question about whether she would campaign alongside Trump if he visited the Pine Tree State.
“I don’t think that President Trump is going to come to Maine,” Collins said when asked about the possibility. “He’s talking about going to a lot of different states. I’ve heard nothing from his office. And I’m not exactly his favorite senator.”
When pressed a second time, Collins was even more direct: “I would say that he is not coming to Maine.”
Trump told reporters Monday that he planned to visit Maine as part of his midterm campaign push. So far, however, no specific plans for a trip have been announced publicly.
“I think we’re going to Maine too. I’m going to Michigan in a week and a half,” Trump said.
Trump lost Maine to former Vice President Kamala Harris by roughly seven percentage points in 2024. The state has voted Democratic in every presidential election this century, yet Collins has continued to hold her Senate seat throughout that period.
Trump was a central figure in Collins’ debate with Jackson, who sought to tie the incumbent to several of the president’s policies, including the war in Iran, the trade dispute with Canada and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Collins repeatedly sought to separate herself from Trump, emphasizing her opposition to all three issues. She also cited a study showing that she “voted against my party more than any other senator on either side of the aisle.”
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The senator highlighted efforts to address what she described as problems created by both Maine’s Democratic-controlled state government and the Trump administration. She pointed to negotiations that removed salt from the tariff list, stressing that Maine relies on Canadian imports to treat its roads during the winter.
“What about everything else? We can’t eat road salt,” Jackson responded.
As Jackson argued that Maine residents were suffering because of disorder in Washington, Collins redirected the debate toward Jackson’s record and state government in Augusta.
“If you look at the policies that have driven up the cost of living in Maine, you have to look at Augusta. Maine has the fourth-highest electricity rates in the country. It has some of the highest housing costs in the entire country,” Collins said.
“It has extraordinarily high property taxes. Those are all due to Augusta’s failed policies under the failed leadership of Troy Jackson.”
Jackson, who frequently consulted a thick white binder of notes during the debate, served as president of the Maine Senate from 2018 through 2024. Collins nevertheless emphasized what she characterized as his difficulty advancing major legislation.
One of Jackson’s sharpest criticisms of Collins centered on her 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. He challenged her with a question about what it would take for her to acknowledge that she had been wrong.
“I clearly don’t agree with how Brett Kavanaugh voted on Roe v. Wade,” Collins said. “I would point out that there’s only one of us on the stage who has always been pro-choice, and that’s me.”
Jackson held staunchly pro-life views earlier in his political career before changing his position and identifying as pro-choice.
Collins also noted that she voted to confirm all of the Supreme Court’s liberal justices.
