{"id":1916,"date":"2026-05-19T17:43:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/19\/trump-endorses-attorney-general-ken-paxton-in-texas-senate-primary\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:43:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:43:07","slug":"trump-endorses-attorney-general-ken-paxton-in-texas-senate-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=1916","title":{"rendered":"Trump endorses attorney general Ken Paxton in Texas Senate primary"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"22c4bbd2-e56e-4468-8368-a03525ed653f\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a man speaks into a microphone\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/bf85a658bdb28919b1670715825ecc74e9b4a7ea\/0_0_5472_3648\/master\/5472.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Ken Paxton, Texas attorney general and Republican US Senate candidate, speaks during the Ronald Regan dinner at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Grapevine, Texas, on 27 March 2026.<\/span> Photograph: Shelby Tauber\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"22c4bbd2-e56e-4468-8368-a03525ed653f\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Ken Paxton, Texas attorney general and Republican US Senate candidate, speaks during the Ronald Regan dinner at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Grapevine, Texas, on 27 March 2026.<\/span> Photograph: Shelby Tauber\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Trump endorses attorney general Ken Paxton in Texas Senate primary<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>US president calls Paxton an \u2018America First Patriot\u2019 and \u2018MAGA Warrior\u2019 ahead of runoff against John Cornyn<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/live\/2026\/may\/19\/donald-trump-primaries-midterms-republicans-kentucky-thomas-massie-pennsylvania-georgia-alabama-oregon-idaho-latest-news-updates\" data-link-name=\"in standfirst link\">US politics live \u2013 latest updates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a> has endorsed the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, in the state\u2019s Republican primary, bolstering his bid to unseat the incumbent US senator, John Cornyn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The US president praised Paxton, who has pitched himself as a political warrior for Trump\u2019s Make America Great Again movement, as an \u201cAmerica First Patriot\u201d in a post on social media on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The intervention, which comes ahead of next week\u2019s May primary runoff, comes despite warnings from other leading Republicans that Conryn would be a stronger candidate in November\u2019s general elections.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"afbb3952-4978-475a-972a-116576994e67\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-3 | 3\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-1bg5532\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/28\/texas-senate-talarico-leads-race-cornyn-paxton\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">Texas Democrat Talarico leads senator Cornyn and AG Paxton in Senate race poll<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Democrats have nominated the Texas state representative, James Talarico, as their candidate for Senate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cKen is a true MAGA Warrior who has ALWAYS delivered for Texas, and will continue to do so in the United States Senate,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">But Paxton has been embroiled in a series of controversies. He was acquitted in a 2023 impeachment trial on corruption charges. He also reached a deal in 2024 to end a long-running securities fraud case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"><em>More details soon\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/ken-paxton\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Ken Paxton<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Trump%20endorses%20attorney%20general%20Ken%20Paxton%20in%20Texas%20Senate%20primary&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/trump-endorses-republican-ken-paxton-senate?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F19%2Ftrump-endorses-republican-ken-paxton-senate&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/19\/trump-endorses-republican-ken-paxton-senate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ken Paxton, Texas attorney general and Republican US Senate candidate, speaks during the Ronald Regan dinner at the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}