‘Things aren’t looking good’: Trump’s private warning to Max Miller contradicted what he said about him in public

President Donald Trump privately called Representative Max Miller on Monday and told him “things aren’t looking good” for his reelection bid, according to three sources familiar with the call. As reported by Mediaite, the private assessment stood in contrast to the more sympathetic tone the president struck when discussing the Ohio Republican in public the same day.

Miller, who represents Ohio’s seventh congressional district, has faced mounting scrutiny following allegations made by his former wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno. Moreno has accused the congressman of physical abuse, alleging he pointed a firearm at her head, threw boiling water at her, and pushed her into a wall, and that their daughter suffered a fractured collarbone as a result of the alleged abuse. Miller has firmly denied the allegations.

In a video statement released Sunday, Miller said, “I categorically deny abusing my former wife,” and suggested his former spouse had significant mental health challenges. Senator Bernie Moreno responded the same day by publicly calling on Miller to withdraw from the race, saying his former son-in-law needs psychological help and describing him as a danger to his daughter and granddaughter.

Trump’s public comments told a very different story

Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump described Miller as “a good person” and called the situation “a very sad thing” when asked about the allegations. When pressed on whether Miller should resign, Trump said he would let the families work it out rather than weighing in directly.

The public restraint stood apart from the private warning relayed to Miller. It came during a stretch of news cycles filled with unrelated viral disputes; a video showing a card being repeatedly declined drew its own wave of attention that same week for entirely separate reasons.

Ohio’s seventh district has historically favored Republicans, and Trump carried it by 11 points in 2024. Miller won his most recent reelection with 51 percent of the vote, a result shaped in part by independent candidate Dennis Kucinich’s presence on the ballot, according to data from Cook Political Report. The May 5, 2026 primary has already concluded, leaving Miller to face Democratic union worker Brian Poindexter in the general election.

Republicans have generally been on offense across Ohio this cycle, but Miller’s district has become one of the party’s few defensive fronts. Trump’s private comments to Miller suggest the White House is closely tracking the risk the race poses to the broader House majority, even as Miller remains in the contest heading into the general election.

Elsewhere in unrelated news, a dispute over an unexplained charge was making its own rounds online around the same time.