President Donald Trump announced his support Wednesday for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state's Republican primary, putting him against incumbent Senator John Cornyn in what would be a direct confrontation between the sitting president and one of the Senate's most senior Republicans.
According to CBS News, Trump-backed challengers have already successfully defeated at least two incumbent Republican candidates targeted by the president in earlier contests this cycle. The Paxton endorsement fits a broader pattern of Trump working to reshape the Republican Party's composition in Congress, backing primary challengers against members he views as insufficiently loyal.
The political cost of that strategy is drawing scrutiny heading into the midterms. Multiple news organizations, including Politico and Reuters, have reported that Republican strategists are increasingly worried that Trump's moves against members of his own party could drain resources and create divisions that hurt the party in general election matchups next November.
Cornyn has served in the Senate since 2002 and has held senior leadership positions in the chamber, including a stint as Senate Majority Whip. He has generally supported Trump's legislative agenda but has at times diverged from the president on specific issues. Paxton, who has served as Texas attorney general since 2015, has been one of Trump's most prominent allies among state officials and survived an impeachment trial in the Texas Senate in 2023, which acquitted him on all charges.
Trump's endorsement of Paxton over Cornyn is among the most prominent tests of the president's willingness to move against established Republican incumbents. Whether the pattern of incumbent defeats that has followed Trump's endorsements in earlier primaries holds in a statewide Texas race will be closely watched by both parties as the 2026 midterm cycle accelerates.
