Trump won’t name his Texas Senate primary pick yet, backs all three

Trump keeps Texas Senate pick unclear after praising all three finalists

President Donald Trump said he has “pretty much” decided whom to endorse in Texas’ closely watched Republican Senate primary, but he did not name a specific candidate ahead of the March 3 vote. Speaking Friday in Corpus Christi, Trump acknowledged that the contest features a “little bit of a race” among three Republicans seeking the nomination, while offering praise for each of them rather than declaring a clear winner.

Trump’s remarks came as the GOP primary battle remains tangled in personal and political dynamics, with Cornyn running for a fifth term and facing challenges from Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt. Trump has “long seemed like he just can’t seem to choose among friends” in the race, according to the report, and Friday’s comments reflected that approach by placing multiple candidates in the spotlight without making an explicit endorsement.

At the Corpus Christi event, Trump greeted Attorney General Ken Paxton and then turned to Sen. John Cornyn. “We have a great attorney general, Ken Paxton. Where’s Ken? Hi, Ken,” Trump said, before adding, “And we have a great senator, John Cornyn. Hi, John.” Trump then described both men as strong figures, telling the crowd, “It’s going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people.”

Trump also referenced Hunt during the remarks, calling him “another friend of mine who is doing very well.” Hunt, a second-term Houston-area representative, entered the race later than Cornyn and Paxton and has centered his campaign on his relationship with Trump, including endorsements Hunt made earlier in Trump’s 2024 bid.

Beyond the primary, Trump used the trip to highlight national themes from his Tuesday State of the Union address, including claims about economic prosperity and national security. During the Corpus Christi remarks, Trump touted increased oil production and said gas prices had been lowered at the Port of Corpus Christi, while also diverging into other topics mentioned in the report, including commentary about Democrats and assertions about voting.

The visit coincided with energy-sector news: ahead of Trump’s trip, Energy Secretary Chris Wright authorized a 12% expansion in liquefied natural gas exports at Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi terminal, according to the report. The terminal expansion was described as making the project the second largest LNG export project in the United States.

Trump’s political message also emphasized turnout, telling the crowd, “We’ve got to win the midterms,” and urging supporters to vote. “We brought the country back. We don’t want to lose the midterm. We’ve got to win the midterms,” Trump said, linking the election push to his broader pitch of a “golden age” for the country.

Democrats sought to turn the remarks into a criticism of Republican priorities, particularly on household costs. After Trump’s Corpus Christi comments, Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Trump called affordability a “fake word” and “hoax” while spending time on events, adding that Texas families were seeing costs rise and that healthcare had become more expensive, according to the report.

The primary itself is shaping into a race where each candidate tries to tie their campaign to Trump, and the field’s dynamics complicate which endorsement might help the party in the general election. The report noted that Cornyn has drawn criticism from some parts of the Texas GOP base, including for earlier dismissiveness toward Trump’s 2024 comeback and his role in authoring tougher restrictions on guns following the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Meanwhile, Paxton has faced legal and personal scrutiny, including an impeachment fight in 2023 described in the report as a fraud case, and allegations of marital infidelity raised by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton. Senate GOP leadership and allied groups have argued that Cornyn is the stronger general-election option, with Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, saying on Fox News Wednesday, “It is a strong possibility we cannot hold Texas if John Cornyn is not our nominee.”

Under Texas GOP rules described in the report, if no candidate reaches 50% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers will advance to a May 26 runoff. In the campaign leading up to March 3, the report said Cornyn’s campaign and aligned groups have spent more than $63 million since last fall, and that Cornyn’s ads have included messaging about support for Trump’s agenda even amid a sometimes cool relationship between the senator and the president.

The report also placed Trump’s Texas trip in broader political context, including his past endorsements in other contested Republican primaries and his stop at a local Whataburger where he announced, “Hamburgers for all!” before picking up food for Air Force One. It also noted that Trump mentioned Rep. Tony Gonzales during the Corpus Christi remarks and congratulated him, though the report said it was unclear what he was congratulating him for in that moment.