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Republicans race to back Ken Paxton as runoff sets up high-stakes US Senate battle in Texas

Joseph Gedeon

Republican leaders rushed to throw their weight behind Ken Paxton following his big primary victory in Texas over the four-term US senator, John Cornyn, amid anxiety within the party over his prospects in November’s general election.

Hours after the race was called, Trump who backed Paxton, despite intense concern among establishment Republicans – took to Truth Social to attack his Democratic rival in the midterm elections.

James Talarico “may be the worst Texas candidate I have ever seen”, said the US president, claiming the Austin state representative and Democratic nominee for Texas senator was weak on crime and an advocate for open borders.

Reaching for a favored Republican attack line against Talarico, Trump claimed he was a vegan who “dislikes meat, not exactly a good way to be if you’re wanting to win an Election in Texas”.

While Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988, Republican operatives have privately worried that Paxton’s long trail of legal troubles would make him a riskier standard-bearer than the incumbent.

Of the outgoing Cornyn, a veteran US senator who enjoyed the support of many of his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill, Trump was more measured. “John will remain my friend for a long time to come,” he said.

Key events

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth is now speaking on Iran, saying that the US has imposed a “world-class blockade” on the country.

“They may have missiles, but they can’t build more right now, and they can’t build more drones right now, and they can’t build more ships, and so they came and cried uncle to talk,” Hegseth said.

“We know from intel that their economy is hurting big time, because that is their lifeblood again bringing them to the table, so whether it is through the efforts of your negotiators that ensure that they never have a new weapon, or we have to go back to the War Department to finish the job, we’re prepared to do that,” Hegseth added, addressing Trump.

On oil, interior secretary Doug Burgum said that the US has opened up lease sales on public land for further drilling.

“When we’re drilling on public land, those companies pay a royalty, and that money comes to all of our citizens, and it goes to local school districts, and it goes to states,” Burgum said.

“This is an opportunity for us to bring prosperity and affordability here at home, but also bring peace abroad,” he added.

Climate activists and Indigenous communities have warned that expanding oil drilling on public land could deepen the climate crisis and damage already fragile ecosystems across the US.

Trump: ‘We don’t need oil, we don’t need the straits’

Trump briefly interjected Marco Rubio’s briefing, saying that the US is “producing right now more oil by double than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined.”

He then added: “We don’t need oil, we don’t need the straits, we don’t need anything but we have more oil now being produced by double, by two times than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined.”

Trump had previously threatened Iran, warning that “a whole civilization will die” if Tehran refused to comply with US demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – a critical chokepoint for global oil shipments.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio just spoke on Iran, saying: “The bottom line is Iran’s never going to have a nuclear weapon.”

“If recent events have done anything, it’s just remind us once again that they are the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, and they can never have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.

He nevertheless emphasized that “diplomacy is always the first option,” adding that “we’ll see over the next few hours and days whether progress could be made.”

“I just want to remind everybody, Mr. President, you know this well, you have other options available to you if that doesn’t work, but the bottom line is that we prefer the negotiated diplomatic route, and we’re going to give it every chance to succeed,” Rubio added.

Vice president JD Vance just elaborated more on the White House fraud task force’s latest efforts.

“I always try to remind the American people that fraud is fundamentally a crime with two victims, the most obvious victim are the American taxpayers. They pay their taxes, they expect the money to go where it should go, and that’s not happening because the fraudsters. But there are also victims, people who benefit from these programs that don’t exist if we’re not actually taking care of the fraud issue,” he said.

Vance said the task force is investigating various frauds, including scam operations across education systems, housing, as well as Medicaid.

Trump went on to talk about his administration’s fight against fraud in the US, saying: “The White House task force to eliminate fraud is waging war on waste, fraud, theft, and abuse like nobody’s ever seen before.”

“They’re finding billions and billions and billions of dollars,” he said, also pointing to authorities last week filing additional charges against others in a sprawling investigation into federal social service spending in Minnesota.

“Everybody was getting rich, and I think we have a chance to save Social Security without doing anything to it, by just the numbers of fraudulent people on Social Security,” Trump continued.

He then went on to talk about Iran, saying: “They want very much to make a deal… Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, everything’s gone and they’re negotiating on fumes.”

“Maybe we have to go back and finish it. Maybe we don’t right now,” he added.

Trump then said: “Their whole economic system is broken down. They thought they were going to outweigh me. ‘You know, we’ll outweigh him. He’s got the midterms.’ I don’t care about the midterms. I don’t care about the midterms,” explaining that his actions on Iran is “for the world, I’m not just doing it for us.”

Trump said he has made drugs cost a “fraction of the price” and that Republicans “should win the midterms on that alone.”

“Now we’re paying the lowest prices anywhere in the world, and the press reviews is to write about it. I think it’s the biggest thing for healthcare, you know,” said Trump. “So much of it is prescription drug prices, and drug prices, and with them coming down, the healthcare is going to come down very substantially.”

While listing his achievements, Trump mentioned tax refunds, success in the “conflict” with Iran (Trump said he would describe it as a “conflict” and not a “war”) and the reduction of drug prices.

Trump said that the amount of fentanyl coming into the US has dropped drastically – 61% drop by the border and 97% decrease by ocean.

Trump holds cabinet meeting at White House

Trump’s cabinet meeting at the White House has started.

He has begun by talking about his administration’s achievements, starting with “zero illegal aliens” entering the country in the last 12 months and a drop in murder rates across the country.

Pool reporters have gathered at the briefing room doors to view the cabinet meeting that will also be live streamed.

We will be bringing you updates from the meeting that is expected to start shortly.

Republicans race to back Ken Paxton as runoff sets up high-stakes US Senate battle in Texas

Joseph Gedeon

Hours after the race was called, Trump who backed Paxton, despite intense concern among establishment Republicans – took to Truth Social to attack his Democratic rival in the midterm elections.

Reaching for a favored Republican attack line against Talarico, Trump claimed he was a vegan who “dislikes meat, not exactly a good way to be if you’re wanting to win an Election in Texas”.