With one week until the runoff, Trump weighs in.
President Donald Trump officially threw his support behind Ken Paxton on Tuesday, endorsing the Texas attorney general in the state’s high-stakes Republican Senate runoff and delivering a major blow to longtime Sen. John Cornyn.
“I know Ken well, have seen him tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and he is a WINNER!” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social.
The president praised Paxton as a “true MAGA Warrior” and highlighted the attorney general’s support for eliminating the Senate filibuster and backing the SAVE Act, a Republican-led voter ID measure that has stalled in the Senate.
“Ken Paxton has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next United States Senator from the Great State of Texas,” Trump wrote.
The endorsement caps months of speculation over whether Trump would side with Paxton or Cornyn in one of the GOP’s most closely watched intraparty battles.
Trump stopped short of fully attacking Cornyn, calling the senator a “good man,” but pointed to policy disagreements and Cornyn’s reluctance to support Trump’s presidential campaign early on.
Cornyn, who has held the seat since 2002, finished first in the initial Republican primary but failed to secure enough support to avoid a runoff election.
🚨 HUGE NEWS: President Trump just gave his COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT to Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate in Texas!
“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!” pic.twitter.com/fTYUUpS6Wf
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) May 19, 2026
