CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – President Donald Trump arrived Friday in Corpus Christi and offered remarks on energy and important Republican primary races, four days before Election Day.
Trump reminded the Coastal Bend crowd of his decision to “deepen the channel and fully modernize” the Port of Corpus Christi during his first term in office.
According to a 2018 Port of Corpus Christi news release, the port’s Ship Channel Improvement Project (SCIP) was included in the presidential budget for the 2019 fiscal year.
Trump said the port channel improvements spurred the creation of “tens of thousands of jobs” and generated “billions of dollars of revenue” for the Coastal Bend.
The president also touted increases in nationwide exports of liquefied natural gas (up 37% over the last year) and crude oil.
“It’s great for us, great for Venezuela,” Trump said. “And with our new friend and partner, Venezuela, we’re going to do a lot of other things. … In fact, 360,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude are right now sitting in the tanker on my left.”
Midterms on the mind
The U.S. House District that included Corpus Christi and much of the Coastal Bend was formerly the 27th Congressional District. Corpus Christi is now in the new 34th Congressional District.
The new district map territory, which Trump won by 10 points two years ago, according to the Texas Tribune, also stretches down to and into the Rio Grande Valley.
Trump also spent a considerable amount of time Friday discussing and mentioning several Republican candidates running for statewide and national races in Tuesday’s primary.
“We’ve got to win the midterms,” Trump said. “We brought this country back. We don’t want to lose the midterms. We got to win the midterms. We’ve got to get out, we’ve got to vote and we’ll keep it all going.”
Trump shouted out Rep. Tony Gonzales, who was in attendance for his speech. Gonzales has been pressured by fellow Republicans to resign after details of an alleged affair emerged between him and a former aide who died by suicide in September 2025.
The president also referenced Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who were both in attendance and are in the trenches of a pivotal U.S. Senate primary.
“They’re in a little race together. You know that, right?” Trump told the crowd. “A little bit of a race. Going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people, too.”
Watch Trump’s full speech in the below video player.
Background
Hours before the president’s visit, a long line of people had already gathered under the Harbor Bridge near the Port of Corpus Christi.
The port is considered a major gateway for U.S. energy exports. Trump’s trip to Texas comes just days after his State of the Union address.
>> Takeaways from Trump’s address: Sales mode on economy, heavy on patriotism, taking aim at Democrats
Al Arreola Jr., the president and CEO of the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, said he’s expecting this visit to spotlight economic activity in Nueces County.
“Any time a seated president comes to visit your community, that puts a spotlight on what’s happening,” Arreola said. “What happens here in Corpus Cristi really does affect commerce, not only in Texas, but again, the world.”
Arreola said he hoped local water needs would be addressed.
“That’s a big need for us in the community,” Arreola said. “We hope that those kinds of conversations are going to happen while the president’s here.”
Sarah Tindall, the chief operating officer of the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation, said she hopes industrial demand and infrastructure are a part of the discussion.
“Infrastructure is always the pillar of good economic development,” Tindall said. “We’re hoping that we can talk a little bit about our water concerns … if (the president) has some ideas on ways that we could partner with the folks up in Washington, D.C., to get those projects moving even faster than they are now, then that would be spectacular.”
Read also:
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.