President Trump promised on Wednesday that he will soon announce his endorsement of one of the two Republicans running for U.S. Senate in Texas, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. (The primary ended in a virtual draw with neither candidate winning the required 50% of the vote and setting up a runoff election in May.)
Trump also said on social media that the candidate he does not endorse should drop out of the race and that the GOP primary “MUST STOP NOW.”
On Thursday, after Paxton voiced his disapproval of Trump’s demand that one of the candidates drop out of the runoff, the President responded to Paxton’s defiance by telling a reporter, “That’s bad for him to say,” and “that is bad for him. So maybe, maybe that leads me to go the other direction.”
President Donald Trump threatened to endorse U.S. Sen. John Cornyn on Thursday morning as Attorney General Ken Paxton remained defiant against the president’s decision to play kingmaker in the state’s U.S. Senate runoff.
Trump did not take Paxton’s defiance well.
“That’s bad… pic.twitter.com/9W2lNZQ5NT— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) March 5, 2026
Trump’s former U.S. Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo today announced his endorsement of Cornyn, citing the incumbent’s consistent alignment with Trump.
Pompeo wrote: “Texas needs a proven fighter in the Senate. @JohnCornyn has delivered for Texas and for President Trump’s agenda, and he will continue to do so. Send him back to Washington. #TexasRunoff”
Texas needs a proven fighter in the Senate. @JohnCornyn has delivered for Texas and for President Trump’s agenda, and he will continue to do so. Send him back to Washington. #TexasRunoff
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) March 5, 2026
MAGA supporters are responding to Pompeo’s endorsement with criticism and snark, as one replied: “Well now we know Paxton is the one that needs to win if Cornyn is being endorsed by you.”
For years MAGA influencers including Roger Stone have criticized “neocon” Pompeo for not being loyal enough to Trump or not “America First” enough. Plus, at the 2023 CPAC Pompeo warned Republicans not to look to “celebrity leaders” with “fragile egos” for leadership.
Pompeo isn’t from Texas but in October 2023, the Harvard Law grad became Of counsel for Texas-based law firm Oberheiden, P.C., the federal criminal defense law firm that represented the whistleblowers (four former senior aides to Paxton) who reported the Attorney General to the FBI on allegations of corruption and were awarded $6.6 million in 2025.
Note: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and U.S Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) are also Of counsel for the firm.