Trump Visits Texas Ahead of Crowded Primary, But Brings No Endorsement

Bloomberg's Joe Lovinger breaks down the Republican infighting playing out amid a crowded primary in Texas, as President Trump makes a trip to the Lone Star State to appear with all three candidates and remains unlikely to endorse any before primary election day. Dramatics are also playing out in the Democratic primary, as James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett try to convince voters that they will be the one to finally flip a Senate seat in Texas.

Donald Trump is visiting Texas just days before the state’s fractious primary election, an early test of the Republican Party’s strength and the president’s political sway ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Trump’s trip to Corpus Christi on Friday comes after his endorsement of a slate of GOP candidates in the March 3 elections, though he has stayed out of the most contentious intra-party battle: the US Senate race pitting incumbent John Cornyn against Attorney General Ken Paxton and Representative Wesley Hunt.

All three shifted their plans to be with the president — with Cornyn joining Trump aboard Air Force One — in a signal his backing remains highly coveted within his party.

Trump sidestepped a question about a potential endorsement as he left the White House on Friday, saying the Texas trip was “a little bit of an oil meeting.”

“We’re having tremendous luck with oil. We’ve got more oil than anybody, and the prices of gasoline are coming way down, and price is generally coming way down,” he told reporters. Still, the president’s appearance in the ruby-red state will force him to confront several political headwinds. It is ground zero for a redistricting fight that Trump’s team hopes will improve his party’s slim chances of keeping control of the House of Representatives, but one that set off a nationwide arms race that has seen Democratic-run states maneuver to redraw their maps. On top of that, Democrats are banking on anti-Trump backlash to help transform Texas from a longtime political mirage into a truly competitive state. The party is eyeing several House races as pickup opportunities as they seek to win back control of Congress.

The trip is also Trump’s first time leaving Washington since Tuesday’s State of the Union address, an opportunity for the president to offer a sense of what renewed message, if any, he has for voters who have soured over his leadership.

Trump used his primetime speech to take a victory lap on affordability, even as Americans express increasing frustration with his handling of the economy.

Any remarks Trump makes about the Senate candidates will be closely scrutinized. The president’s lack of involvement has ramped up the competitiveness of the contest, which will head to a runoff vote in May if none of the trio gets a majority of the vote.

Some Republicans in Washington have implored Trump to throw his support behind Cornyn, worried that a vicious, drawn-out campaign could open a lane for Democrats to win their first statewide Texas race in three decades. The trip may also force the president to weigh in on Representative Tony Gonzales, who is facing calls to resign and is locked in his own primary fight. Trump has twice endorsed Gonzales, but the White House has declined all week to say whether that still stands. Any resignation could further narrow the precarious House majority, while the controversy itself could hang over the vote this fall.

Gonzales is facing a competitive primary from YouTube influencer and firearm enthusiast Brandon Herrera, known as “The AK Guy,” whom he defeated by less than 400 votes in 2024.

The race is also seen as a bellwether of Trump’s support in majority-Hispanic Texas border districts, which flipped to support him in 2024 and are crucial to the GOP’s plans to add five new seats with its redrawn congressional maps.

The Trump team’s midterm messaging has also produced a split-screen effect.

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