President Trump’s threat to back a primary challenger against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is just the latest boiling point in their hot-and-cold relationship — and the Kentuckian is brushing off the attacks.

“It's temporary,” the Kentuckian told me after Trump threatened to end his political career over Massie’s “no” vote on a six-month continuing resolution, backed by the president, that would keep the government open through September.

Massie was the only House Republican to vote against the legislation, which he argued does not set up Congress to make lasting cuts to government spending.

The libertarian congressman sees Trump’s public attacks as a tactic to “keep other people in line.”

The House GOP, after all, has a razor-thin majority and almost no room for error.

“Probably somebody had a strategy that said, 'We can't let any more horses out of the barn, so let's whack Massie and then the other horses will stay in the barn,'" Massie said. “Because nobody expected that to change me, right? What am I gonna say? ‘Oh, I was so misguided for the last 12 years. I misdirected all of my efforts into fiscal conservatism.’”

Massie’s “no” vote was hardly a surprise to Trump or other Republicans in Congress.

Massie is often the sole GOP lawmaker voting against various measures. He was also the lone GOP vote against a budget resolution framework for Trump’s ambitious legislative agenda. His problem on that measure was that it didn’t cut spending enough.

A number of Republicans are privately furious that Trump is trying to make an example out of Massie when they saw him as simply standing on principle.

“I think it’s a bunch of noise and distraction,” one member told me of the threats, shaking their head when I asked if Trump’s tactics would be effective in scaring Republicans from defecting.

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who also has libertarian streak, said he was “shocked” by Trump’s primary threat.

“They have a love-hate relationship. I mean, the reality is a lot of the same people ... love them both,” Davidson said. “I think Donald Trump doesn't like not getting his way.”

Massie, though, said he thinks he and Trump can easily patch things up.

After all, they’ve had a lot of fights before and have generally made up.

Let’s just look at the last several years:

• March 2020: Massie tried to force a roll call vote on the CARES Act coronavirus stimulus bill. That forced lawmakers to scramble to get back to Washington to avoid a delay in passing the legislation. Trump was furious. He called Massie three times; Massie let it go to voicemail. Finally, Massie took Trump’s call in the Speaker’s lobby. The president publicly called for Massie

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