Donald Trump is once again turning the Texas Senate race into a national guessing game—this time hinting he will finally reveal which candidate he’s backing “today,” after weeks of speculation and political maneuvering. According to Punchbowl News reporter Jake Sherman, the former president is expected to announce his choice around noon Tuesday, potentially reshaping the final stretch of the race between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn.
The long-awaited endorsement comes as Republicans brace for a high-stakes runoff between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. John Cornyn, a contest that has split party strategists over electability, fundraising, and the future direction of the GOP in Texas.
Trump had previously set expectations—and pressure—for the runoff in unusually blunt terms. In a March Truth Social post, he said the GOP Senate race “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer,” adding that he would endorse one candidate and expect the other to “immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE.”
But his latest comments suggest that the pause may be ending.
“There are those that say whoever I endorse is going to win,” Trump said, before adding that while he “doesn’t like to brag,” his decision has been “made for a long time.”
He offered no name, but made clear the announcement is imminent—and intentional.
“I just think it’s going to be… I just think it’s appropriate,” he said.
On Monday, the first day of early voting for the runoff, Sen. John Cornyn was sounding less like a candidate waiting on a boost—and more like someone who had already stopped expecting one.
“I think that ship has finally sailed,” Cornyn said Monday after casting his ballot in Austin, according to the Austin American-Statesman, effectively acknowledging what many Republicans have quietly been saying for weeks: the long-awaited endorsement from Donald Trump might not be coming at all.
The incumbent, however, left the door cracked open for a very different kind of Trump involvement down the line. If he wins the runoff against Paxton, Cornyn said he would still welcome the president campaigning with him in Texas ahead of the general election.
Trump on Monday endorsed more than two dozen Republican candidates across the country — just not the two men fighting for his attention in Texas. Early voting in the runoff began the same day and runs through May 26, putting added pressure on both campaigns as they try to shape turnout without knowing where the party’s biggest name will land.