Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday evening to criticize U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, labeling the South Texas congressman as “disloyal” and “ungrateful” for remaining with the Democratic Party after Trump granted him a pardon last year.
In his post, Trump expressed surprise that Cuellar, who he believed would switch parties and seek reelection as a Republican, instead filed to run as a Democrat. “I did the pardons, and made no deal, where a crooked politician would have, but I thought there would be a good chance that Cuellar, who was persecuted by Democrats because they didn’t like him, would have routinely gone over to the Republican Party — the people that saved him from years in prison,” Trump stated.
Cuellar responded to Trump’s remarks by emphasizing his commitment to the needs of his district, where he prioritizes addressing issues such as ICE overreach, lowering costs, and safeguarding Medicare and Social Security. “As I’ve previously shared, my family and I are grateful that this weaponized case is behind us,” Cuellar remarked. “My full attention will continue to be on serving our friends and neighbors in South Texas, as I’ve done for years. As with all public servants, regardless of their party, we will hold the President and his family in our prayers.”
Cuellar is currently engaged in a fiercely competitive campaign for Texas’ 28th congressional district, which has recently been redrawn to favor Trump, who won it by over 10 points in the 2024 election. However, the district had been won by Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke in 2018.
In his post, Trump also endorsed Cuellar’s opponent, Tano Tijerina, a Webb County judge who switched to the Republican Party to run for Congress. Nonetheless, much of Trump’s message was a harsh critique of Cuellar, suggesting the congressman deserved a lengthy prison sentence alongside his wife, Imelda, whom Trump also pardoned.
Both Cuellar and his wife faced a dozen charges of bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy in 2024, stemming from allegations that they accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from an oil company linked to the Azerbaijani government and a Mexican commercial bank. The indictment claims that these entities channeled funds into shell companies owned by Imelda, and in return, Cuellar allegedly used his congressional influence to promote their interests.
Prior to Trump’s second term, he accused the Biden administration of targeting Cuellar for his stance on border enforcement. “Biden just indicted Henry Cuellar because the respected Democrat Congressman wouldn’t play Crooked Joe’s Open Border game,” Trump asserted in a May 2024 post on Truth Social.
During Trump’s presidency, Cuellar’s daughters reached out to him in November 2025, urging the president to grant clemency to their parents, a request he fulfilled the following month. In his recent post, Trump expressed regret that Cuellar’s daughters had not convinced him to switch parties. “I only wish Henry Cuellar’s daughters, who begged for his survival, would have used the same level of charm to convince their mother and father to do the right thing,” Trump reflected. “I am very proud of the fact that I didn’t make a deal with Cuellar, which I easily could have, but relied on his character, which turned out to be a faulty one.”
