US government personnel officials say non-disclosure agreements are part of an effort to stop leaks to the media.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the state’s Republican Senate runoff, defeating four-term incumbent John Cornyn and setting the stage for a November showdown with Democrat James Talarico. Paxton clinched the nomination a week after securing an endorsement from President Donald Trump in one of the most expensive primaries in Senate history. Bloomberg's Jon Herskovitz reports. (Source: Bloomberg)
One of President Donald Trump's biographers shared a sobering prediction about how the second Trump administration will end during a new podcast interview on Tuesday. Michael Wolff, a journalist who has written four books about Trump, discussed Trump's health with Joanna Coles, the Daily Beast's chief content officer, on a new episode of "Inside Trump's Head," the podcast they co-host. Wolff said Trump's "sense of the dramatic" makes it likely that his presidency will end suddenly and surprisingly, almost certainly in a way that gives Trump the place in history that he seems to crave. "I think that there's a very good chance that it just ends all of a sudden," Wolff said. "No warning, no preparation. He falls."Wolff's comments came at a time when questions swirled about Trump's health following his semi-annual physical at Walter Reed Hospital. Trump declared that he was perfectly healthy after the exam, although some medical experts remained skeptical. Wolff noted that Trump is facing an environmental risk to his health that many presidents face during their second term, one that could exacerbate any issues he already faces. "I think the second term for every president is, to say the least, a downer," Wolff said. "First thing, you have nothing to work toward. You're not running again. You see your end, and that must be frightening. And also, everyone is taking things from you. The loneliness must set in, probably exactly at the point Trump is at now. He's facing the midterms. They're going to be a catastrophe for Trump." Wolff added that if the second Trump administration were to end abruptly, that may be all Trump needs to be remembered by the history books. "I think he has enough of a sense of the dramatic that he knows that he has to go out like this," Wolff said. "This is it. This would give him his place in history."
Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, overcame scandals and a significant fund-raising disadvantage to win. His victory sets up the general-election clash that Democrats had hoped for.
President Donald Trump's disgraced former attorney general, Pam Bondi, is coming back to the Trump administration — only this time, she's working in a very different role.According to Axios, "Bondi, whom Trump ousted as AG last month, will be on the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The panel is chaired by former White House AI adviser David Sacks and White House science adviser Michael Kratsios. It also includes more than a dozen tech executives, including Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison."Per the report, Bondi's role on the panel will be to mediate between the White House and the tech billionaires serving on it.Announcing the move, Vice President JD Vance proclaimed, "Pam has been an enormously valuable asset to the president's team, and I'm thrilled for her and for all of us that she's going to remain involved in confronting some of the most important issues the administration faces."This comes despite the fact that Bondi was unceremoniously fired by Trump earlier this year.Sources at the time indicated Trump had a long list of frustrations with Bondi, including her failure to manage the public furor over the Jeffrey Epstein trafficking case files, and the fact that under her watch, several politically-motivated prosecutions of Trump's enemies ended in failure and sometimes even the removal of prosecutors.
Some Republicans fretting about the upcoming midterms on social media could not seem to squeeze into a comfortable position Tuesday night after incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) lost his seat to Republican challenger Ken Paxton.MAGA faithful delighted in the news, with right-wing pundits like Nick Sorter crowing victory Tuesday night after results rolled in.“HEY THUNE: Texas is sending a MESSAGE to you. You could’ve avoided this ENTIRE PRIMARY and KEPT John Cornyn if you would’ve just passed the SAVE America Act,” Sorter said on X. “You snubbed us, thinking you could just BUY elections. YOU WERE WRONG. Voters are REBUKING you.”“The day of the RINO is over and the RINO's who are still in the Senate better take notice,” yowled MAGA influencer Bill Mitchell on X.“Go against President Trump and his America First agenda at your own peril,” said another. “The old Republican Party is dead. The voters are fully behind Trump, and opposing him is now a career-ender. Just ask John Cornyn, Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, Adam Kinzinger, and the rest of the never Trump losers who got primaried, booed off stage, or exiled into political oblivion.”“Paxton will face Democrat James Talarico in November, win that election, and begin representing Texas come January in the senate,” said right-wing radio host Clay Travis on X. But other, less jingoistic conservatives appeared to twitch their fingers at the news.“Dems will be happy to get Paxton with all his baggage,” said former Fox News sportswriter Robert Lusetich under Travis’ X post.“Paxton will win easily after Democrats spend over $100 million convincing themselves Talarico has a chance,” Travis posted directly beneath Lusetich — but Lusetich was unconvinced.“But think of the ads that $100m buys, Clay! 2023 impeachment by his own party in the Texas House + long-running securities fraud indictments + federal whistle-blower investigations + Trump lackey,” insisted Lusetich. “Key though is 15-20 percent of GOP in Texas are Bush Republicans & they're staying home.”Talarico himself was already courting bitter Cornyn voters on the night of his defeat, announcing on X: “I want to thank Senator John Cornyn for his years representing our state. We don’t agree on everything, but we both still believe in public service. To Senator Cornyn’s supporters: you have a place in our campaign.”Dem strategists and influencers, meanwhile, were already out in force and thrilled with the news, with one declaring on X: “Congrats Ken Paxton for handing the Senate to Democrats in 2026.Another X Dem suggested: “Dems need to just run clips of Paxton being insane over and over and over again.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton thanked his supporters and President Trump calling his endorsement “the most powerful force in politics.” Paxton defeated Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary runoff.
Alex Mealer, a Trump-endorsed Army combat veteran and energy executive, defeated state Rep. Briscoe Cain in a Houston-based congressional runoff election.
Trump-backed Republican Carlos de la Cruz toppled Texas lawmaker John Lujan in a runoff for a newly redrawn congressional district stretching from Austin to San Antonio.