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President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md.<\/p>\n
Alex Brandon\/AP Photo\/Alex Brandon<\/p>\n
Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton smiles as Vice President JD Vance speaks during a campaign rally at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport in Tyler, Texas, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. (Saul Loeb\/Pool Photo via AP, File)<\/p>\n
Saul Loeb\/Saul Loeb\/POOL AFP via AP<\/p>\n
U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico speaks to attendees at the Voto Latino “Ready, Go, Vote,” rally Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Weslaco, Texas, ahead of the midterm elections.<\/p>\n
Michael Gonzalez\/AP Photo\/Michael Gonzalez<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio boards a plane Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, at Lisbon Airport in Lisbon.<\/p>\n
Mark Schiefelbein\/Mark Schiefelbein\/Pool AP via AP<\/p>\n
Vice President JD Vance speaks to the media before boarding Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (Saul Loeb\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Saul Loeb\/Saul Loeb\/Pool AFP via AP<\/p>\n
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump will be joined by one of his potential successors on Tuesday as he tries to keep Texas, which hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office in 32 years, in the Republican column in next week’s midterm elections.<\/p>\n
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The president will appear in Corpus Christi and Lubbock in his effort to boost Republican Ken Paxton’s competitive U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico.<\/p>\n
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to help Trump show off a newly arrived oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude to be processed in Texas refineries, according to a congressional aide and two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Rubio\u2019s schedule ahead of a public announcement.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re going to accept a million barrels of oil, and I\u2019m going to give it to you people to use it the way you want,\u201d Trump said as he left Washington without mentioning Rubio.<\/p>\n
The president is entering the final week of his last midterms in a frenzied push to shore up Republican strongholds against unusually competitive Democratic candidates. His Tuesday trip to Texas marks his third swing through the state since holding a first-of-its-kind midterm convention in Dallas in September, a sign of the significance he’s putting on a state that has spent decades as reliably Republican.<\/p>\n
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He swung through Mississippi, Michigan, Georgia, Florida and Iowa over the past week, and his next stops are Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Iowa. He won all of these states in 2024.<\/p>\n
Texas tests Trump’s sway over the GOP<\/p>\n
The campaign marathon is a bet that while Trump is broadly unpopular, he still holds sway over the GOP’s most loyal voters \u2014 a bloc whose participation in the elections will be critical.<\/p>\n
The strategy is facing its fiercest test in Texas, where Talarico has capitalized on the difficult political environment for Republicans and Paxton’s history of ethical and legal problems. Talarico plans to hold events on Tuesday in Midland, Amarillo and Lubbock, potentially creating a split-screen moment with Trump and Paxton.<\/p>\n
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Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has joined Trump’s effort to stop Talarico’s advance.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalarico is lunatic left,\u201d Musk wrote on his social media platform, X, to his 241 million followers, part of a drumbeat of attacks he\u2019s posted against the candidate in the race\u2019s final days.<\/p>\n
Musk has headquartered Tesla and SpaceX, as well as himself, in Texas, and is so set on ensuring Republicans hold control of his adopted state that he appears to have sunk $158 million into defeating Talarico. Musk gave that much to the Senate Leadership Fund, which then gave the same amount to the Texas PAC, the largest contributor to Paxton\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s helped make the race one of the most expensive in the country with over $563 million being spent on advertising between the primary and general elections, according to the ad tracking firm, AdImpact.<\/p>\n
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While Musk\u2019s investment is a challenge for Talarico, it also falls right into the Democratic campaign\u2019s central message. At every stop, Talarico has argued that, for too long, the wealthy and their donations have corrupted politics, and that this corruption has fueled the affordability crisis.<\/p>\n
Talarico has begun naming Musk in his stump speeches. Paxton tends not to discuss him.<\/p>\n
That parallels the Texas gubernatorial race.<\/p>\n
The Democratic challenger, Gina Hinojosa, has sought the communications between Musk and GOP Gov. Greg Abbott, arguing that their relationship evinces how cozy her opponent is with the ultra-wealthy in Texas.<\/p>\n
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On Monday, a judge ruled that Hinojosa, given her position as a state representative, must be able to review over 1,000 unredacted pages by Thursday.<\/p>\n
Rubio’s visit previews GOP’s potential 2028 contest <\/p>\n
As the midterms reach the final stretch, the early stages of the next campaign are already surfacing.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not clear whether Rubio, who also serves as Trump\u2019s national security adviser, would take part in any campaign events. But it\u2019s the first time that he\u2019s hitting the road with Trump as the president barnstorms the country.<\/p>\n
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A State Department official said Rubio is traveling with Trump in his capacity as national security advisor and not secretary of state.<\/p>\n
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the travel plans, said Rubio \u201cneeds time with the president on all kinds of issues\u201d and that \u201cbeing on the plane with him gives him a chance to talk to him about these items.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rubio previously ran for president in 2016 and is considered a top prospect in 2028. He has not said whether he will run, and his political activities have been limited since becoming secretary of state.<\/p>\n
Another top Republican 2028 contender, Vice President JD Vance, has been more active on the campaign trail, stopping in Michigan on Tuesday, where he called the Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed a \u201cclash of competing visions.\u201d<\/p>\n
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