Trump endorses – Donald Trump has thrown his full support behind Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican Senate runoff next Tuesday, May 26—bucking incumbent Senator John Cornyn. The endorsement arrives after Trump weighed whether to pressure the race towar
When the calendar flipped to the final stretch of next week’s Texas Republican Senate runoff, Donald Trump finally stopped hovering and picked a side.
In a lengthy Truth Social post, the president endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, directing his supporters toward Paxton over four-term incumbent Senator John Cornyn. Trump framed the decision as an assessment of grit and loyalty, not just a choice between candidates.
“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot. in many cases. very unfairly. but he is a Fighter. and knows how to WIN. Our Country needs Fighters, and also Loyalty to the Cause of Greatness,” Trump wrote. “WE HAVE ALREADY MADE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, BUT NOW, WE WANT TO MAKE OUR NATION BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE. Therefore. Ken Paxton has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next United States Senator from the Great State of Texas – KEN PAXTON WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”.
Trump’s message left Cornyn in a different lane, praising him as a “good man” while portraying him as insufficiently aligned with Trump during difficult moments. He accused Cornyn of not being “supportive of me when times were tough.”
Where Cornyn was faulted, Paxton was celebrated for allegiance. Trump wrote that Paxton had been “extremely loyal to me and our AMAZING MAGA MOVEMENT.”
The stakes are immediate. The runoff is set for Tuesday, May 26. Cornyn narrowly edged out Paxton in the March primary, setting up a do-over between the two Republicans.
Trump had floated support for Paxton earlier and even considered a strategy that would pressure the other candidate to step aside and keep focus on the general election against Democratic candidate James Talarico. But he held off for two more months before making the endorsement public.
Now, the race is close enough that Trump’s decision may not settle it on its own. Polling ahead of the runoff shows a tight contest between Paxton and Cornyn, with Paxton holding a slight edge. The larger test comes in November. when the winner of the runoff will face Talarico. with the added complication that Talarico is running against an unpopular president.
The political math gets sharper when surveys shift to the general election. While Trump has selected Paxton based on loyalty to the MAGA movement, it’s Cornyn—rather than Paxton—who polls better against Talarico in the available November vote surveys.
Trump’s endorsement is part of a broader pattern in primary politics: a reminder to Republican voters that he remains in command and that dissent can carry consequences at the ballot box. The president has punished politicians who moved out of lockstep with the White House’s agenda. and his influence over Republican primaries has remained unusually strong.
But general election voters ultimately decide the outcome in November.
Donald Trump Ken Paxton John Cornyn Texas Senate runoff May 26 Truth Social MAGA movement James Talarico United States Senate