President Trump to announce endorsement in Cornyn-Paxton race for U.S. Senate
President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday morning that his U.S. Senate endorsement for the Texas seat will be made today between 11:30 a.m. and noon.
Trump called the primary runoff election between Republican incumbent John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton “the big race” in Texas.
“I’ll be making a statement in a little while as to who I’m endorsing in Texas for the senate,” Trump said. “And there are those that say whoever I’m going to endorse is gonna win, I don’t know if that’s true, but historically, that’s absolutely true. I just don’t like to say it, because I don’t like to brag. I’ve had my mind made up for a long time, but I just think it’s appropriate.”
Trump announced he would endorse in the race on March 4, the day after Cornyn and Paxton advanced to a May 26 runoff. Neither won over half the votes in the March 3 primary.
In a Truth Social post on March 4, the president said that the race must stop now so the Republicans can focus on beating the “Radical Left Opponent,” Democrat state Rep. James Talarico.
“I will be making my Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE! Is that fair?” Trump said in the post. “We must win in November!!!”
Early voting began May 18 and runs May 22. Election Day is May 26.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 10:53 AM.