Updated November 8, 2026, 1:35 p.m. CT
- Senator Ron Johnson accused the Trump administration of corruption during an interview on Fox News.
- Johnson’s accusations were based on claims by a former health official that special interests influenced top aides.
- The White House and President Trump have defended the administration’s record against fraud and dishonesty.
- Johnson later clarified his comments, saying the “deep state” exists in all administrations, not just Trump’s.
Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, accused the Trump administration of corruption in a stunning interview with Fox News over the weekend.
Johnson referenced recent claims by former top federal health official Calley Means that top Trump administration officials and policy advisers pandered to special interests.
Means accused top Trump aides of caving to powerful lobbyists and prioritizing fundraising over health care and blocking policies championed by the Make America Healthy Again movement during a recent appearance on a Joe Rogan podcast.
“Calley exposes corruption in gory detail,” Johnson said in the Nov. 7 interview. “Bipartisan corruption in every branch of government. The problem is, it’s government. Government is power. Power corrupts.”
Johnson later added that the corruption was “within the government – I’m sad to say, within the Trump administration.”
The White House, in a statement on November 8, defended the administration’s record.
“President Trump has launched an all-out war on fraud across the federal government, holding criminals accountable and saving taxpayers billions of dollars,” said spokeswoman Lauren Bis.
Trump, speaking to reporters over the weekend, said: “If someone is dishonest, I consider it not only to be an attack on the country, but I consider it to be dishonest against me.”
Johnson, who was first elected in 2010, described himself as “part of the Tea Party movement.”
“I had to join a camp, obviously I’m more aligned with the Republicans than the Democrats,” Johnson said. “But if Republicans want to win in 2028, we must readopt the enduring principles of our founders: limited government. We must stop mortgaging our children’s futures.”
His comments to Fox were markedly different from those he made to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after the midterm elections, which swept Republicans from power in Wisconsin across the country. In that interview, Johnson — who will be the only Republican elected to statewide office after January — instead blamed the outcome of Tuesday’s election on the media and education systems.
“Our supporters expected us to drain the swamp, but it appears the swamp won,” Johnson told Fox.
Johnson later said he blamed “deep state actors in every administration” for corruption, not just the Trump administration.
“Unfortunately, the state’s deep swamp is alive and well despite President Trump’s sincere efforts to drain it,” he wrote in an article.
Reporter Valerie Yurk contributed to this article.
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