{"id":20627,"date":"2026-03-27T10:31:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/trump-plays-texas-hold-em-with-senate-endorsement\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:31:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T10:31:37","slug":"trump-plays-texas-hold-em-with-senate-endorsement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/trump-plays-texas-hold-em-with-senate-endorsement\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump plays Texas hold \u2019em with Senate endorsement"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the MAGA faithful gather for another day of CPAC in Grapevine, Texas, they are openly celebrating what they believe is tantamount to a major midterms victory: keeping President Donald Trump from endorsing John Cornyn ahead of May\u2019s GOP Senate primary runoff.<\/p>\n

MAGA world is taking a victory lap \u2014 and fresh comfort \u2014 in the receipts: A lack of significant spending and polling so far by not only Cornyn\u2019s campaign, but also the NRSC and One Nation, the Senate Leadership Fund-aligned nonprofit. It amounts to a pattern the MAGA cohort reads as Washington making peace with a matchup between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, their anointed candidate, and Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe grassroots stood in the breach and said a resounding \u2018NO\u2019 to Cornyn,\u201d Steve Bannon, who has framed Paxton\u2019s bid for the nomination as a battle for MAGA\u2019s soul, told Blue Light News. \u201cPolling and spending indicates that the Republican DC establishment reluctantly concurs. This could be the victory that empowers MAGA through the midterms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paxton, though, hasn\u2019t rested his case. He traveled to Mar-a-Lago last Friday for a Palm Beach County GOP dinner, and was spotted speaking to Trump himself, according to three sources familiar. <\/p>\n

Trump and Paxton were on the patio, one source added, with another saying the two discussed the runoff. \u201cIt was a positive meeting,\u201d said yet another person. A Paxton spokesperson declined to comment on the meeting. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the latest sign of a fierce and feverish effort to keep Trump from endorsing Cornyn.<\/p>\n

Even when all signs pointed to a Cornyn endorsement following the longtime senator’s showing in the primary, MAGA faithful kept pressing for Paxton. Now they\u2019re optimistic their guy can come out on top \u2014 and they’re still taking shots at Cornyn every chance they get.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cornyn endorsement looks dead, but it\u2019s Trump, so it\u2019s never certain,\u201d a person close to the White House said. \u201cCornyn sealed his fate by carrying Mitch [McConnell]\u2019s water on that ridiculous gun grabbing bill. No one thought he would be dumb enough to run for reelection after that but here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Trump may not give an endorsement at all. Or if he does, he may endorse Paxton after the SAVE Act debate in the Senate is over, three sources tell Blue Light News.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is dead,\u201d said a source familiar with the president\u2019s thinking. \u201cIt\u2019s all just stasis at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s looking like he may not endorse at all,\u201d another White House official said. \u201cBut it doesn\u2019t seem like he has made up his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the endorsement equation in Texas amid the SAVE Act saga is still very much vexing Trump, according to five Republicans in and around the White House. The president, who will not be in attendance at this year\u2019s CPAC, is \u201cbeing patient\u201d and \u201ctrying to exact\u201d a policy win, another person said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump isn\u2019t going to endorse against Cornyn while the Save America Act is still being debated,\u201d one White House ally said. \u201cSo for now I think he stays out, but if Thune files cloture and Paxton continues to lead in every poll then I could see him endorsing Paxton. No question Paxton wins if Trump stays out though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every Republican who spoke to Blue Light News cautioned that Trump could change his mind at any moment. It\u2019s still early for the runoff, they said, with Election Day still nearly two months away. But the deadline for a candidate to drop off the ballot passed last week.<\/p>\n

One person familiar told Blue Light News that the Senate Leadership Fund and NRSC aren\u2019t spending in order to conserve resources. \u201cNot cause they are throwing in the towel,\u201d this person said.<\/p>\n

The campaign will be spending soon, a Cornyn spokesperson said. \u201cKen Paxton said he needed $20M to win this primary and he\u2019s barely raised a quarter of that,\u201d said Cornyn campaign senior adviser Matt Mackowiak. \u201cHis professional failures and indefensible personal conduct make GOP donors and Texas primary voters deeply uncomfortable.\u201d He added: \u201cWe have a plan to win this race and we are executing it. Ken Paxton is busy whining and hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris LaCivita, one of Trump\u2019s top campaign hands who works as a senior adviser for the pro-Cornyn super PAC Texans for a Conservative Majority, said the runoff boils down to a resource equation. \u201cThe question remains the same,\u201d LaCivita said. \u201cDoes the GOP want to spend $150-200 million holding what should be a safe seat and giving up other opportunities to gain advantage?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joanna Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the NRSC, said it\u2019s \u201cbeen very clear that the fight to protect President Trump\u2019s Senate Majority should not be fought in Texas, and John Cornyn is the only candidate who ensures that does not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to money, Republicans are planning for MAGA Inc. to be \u201cresponsible for resources needed in a general election if it\u2019s Ken Paxton,\u201d according to two GOP operatives briefed on strategy (one cautioned that \u201cplanning is probably more hoping.\u201d). A MAGA Inc. spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n

On the sidelines of CPAC, where bedazzled and sequined conservatives gathered for the base\u2019s annual pep rally, the overwhelming feeling was that most Texas GOP primary voters had already made up their minds \u2014 and a Trump endorsement in either direction wouldn\u2019t make much of a difference. Some attendees said they viewed Trump\u2019s silence as a nudge toward Paxton.<\/p>\n

\u201cTexans \u2014 we’re done,\u201d said Gregorio Heise, a Paxton supporter and Republican running for Congress in Rep. Jasmine Crockett\u2019s Dallas district. \u201cIt’s already showing, even in the polling. Cornyn doesn’t do what Texans want, and [Paxton] does.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday night at CPAC, attendees will hear from Paxton, who\u2019s headlining the conference\u2019s Ronald Reagan dinner. Cornyn isn\u2019t planning to attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s an opportunity to be able to, you know, share your vision and basically sell yourself to the crowd, to the Texas crowd,\u201d CPAC host and organizer Mercedes Schlapp told Blue Light News. \u201cSo Ken Paxton agreed to come, and he has a very high CPAC rating. And you know, we’ve invited Cornyn, and so we are still open. The invitation is still open for John Cornyn to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like this content? Consider signing up for Blue Light News’s <\/i>Playbook newsletter<\/i><\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the MAGA faithful gather for another day of CPAC in Grapevine, Texas, they are openly celebrating what they believe is tantamount to a major midterms victory: keeping President Donald Trump from endorsing John Cornyn ahead of May\u2019s GOP Senate primary runoff. MAGA world is taking a victory lap \u2014 and fresh comfort \u2014 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}