President Donald Trump once again insulted veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove, this time on Friday — not long after Rove warned in a Wall Street Journal column Wednesday that Trump’s MAGA rallies “may not be enough” for GOP candidates to win the upcoming midterm elections.

Rove helped run two victorious presidential campaigns as senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to George W. Bush, but that history didn’t seem to factor into Trump’s comments to reporters Friday.

“Look, you have Karl Rove, he’s a loser,” Trump said. “He’s a proven [loser].”

He continued, “He’s been a loser all his life. Karl Rove doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Look, every single place I’ve gone to, every single place, whether people were losing or they were expected to win — when I’m leaving, ‘Look at Ohio, how much better he’s doing.’”

Trump has endorsed both Sen. John Husted (R-Ohio) and state gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy in their respective races. A recent Fox News survey of likely Ohio voters shows Husted trailing his opponent, former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), by five points.

A Marist University survey published Tuesday, which polled 1,176 registered U.S. voters across Ohio from Oct. 15 to Oct. 18, shows 50% said they will vote for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton — with only 43% stating the same about Ramaswamy.

Rove previously drew Trump’s ire by announcing he will vote Democrat for only the second time in his life, slamming the GOP for being “infiltrated” with “conspiracy nuts,” in the Texas Railroad Commission race. Trump called him a “stone cold loser” on social media at the time.

.@POTUS: "You have Karl Rove — he's a loser. He's been a loser all his life. Karl Rove doesn't know what he's talking about." https://t.co/OkiXIjsguY

The Wednesday column from Rove, titled “Trump Takes His 2026 Midterm Show on the Road,” alludes to how the president, through his rallying, has shifted the focus of the midterms to himself in the face of tanking approval ratings.

Rove warned Trump in the Journal about his “omnipresence” on the campaign trail.

“It’s too soon to know if this bet will pay off, but it carries real risks,” he wrote. “The rallies keep him in the headlines, but as a partisan figure in a midterm election in which voters render their verdict on him. His biggest fans would probably vote anyway.”

Rove explained, “Less enthusiastic supporters are the ones whose votes Republicans need.”

Trump continued dismissing Rove’s insights Friday, instead boasting in his response, “Every place I’m going to, every place is full, loaded with people, lines outside trying to get in. I’m going to Fort Myers right now. They say there’s a line of people that’s five miles long.”

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