President Donald Trump kicked off a Texas two-step on Tuesday with his closing argument for why Texans should elect state Attorney General Ken Paxton, with the president arguing Republicans cannot lose a single vote in the Senate.

“I kid him all the time, but the bottom line is, he’s the best attorney general in the history of Texas,” said Trump, who has poked fun at Paxton’s voice, attire and looks, during a rally in Corpus Christi. Mostly praising Paxton at the rally, he argued it was imperative for the GOP to hold the seat: “We need that vote. Otherwise, all of the great things we’ve done are going to change very quickly.”

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales and the Cook Political Report both rate his battle for an open Senate seat against Democrat James Talarico as a tossup. A handful of polls conducted this month show Talarico with a slim lead in their battle to replace former GOP Whip John Cornyn, but all but one shows a margin-of-error contest. Republicans are scrambling to protect their 53-47 majority in the Senate.

“‘Tala-freako’ wants to get rid of the guns. He wants to get rid of the oil. He wants to get rid of the meat,” Trump contended, using his derisive nickname for the Democrat and embellishing his policy stances. “But he wants to keep the transgender mutilation of your children, open borders. He wants to keep men playing in women’s sports — figure that one out.”

His voice beginning to sound gravely after a month of near-daily rallies, Trump again contended Talarico was “a communist,” something the Democratic state House member has denied. Afterward, he headed to Lubbock for another Lone Star rally.

The two-stop visit was Trump’s 10th of his second term and second in 20 days, according to Roll Call’s Factba.se. Trump also held a two-day GOP midterms convention in Dallas last month. A Republican president spending an entire day there one week before an election is noteworthy. Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 was the last Democrat elected to the Senate in Texas, and Ann Richards in 1990 was the last Democrat to win a gubernatorial race there.

For his part, Paxton told the rally crowd at the Port of Corpus Christi before Trump arrived that he, as the state’s top lawyer, had recovered “billions” from technology and pharmaceutical companies on their behalf. And he attacked Talarico, who he labeled “the most radical Democrat to ever run in Texas history.”

“Then there’s the oil and gas industry. He said you cannot be a Christian and support the oil and gas industry,” Paxton said. “I think we can sum it up with his statements on capitalism, where he said capitalism is oppressive and needs to be dismantled.”

‘Making a fortune’

Trump continued to dismiss voters’ concerns about the economy and push his false statements about past elections.

“The price is going to come down, but your country is making a fortune,” Trump said to cheers. “And that’s really good, right?”

The line has become a regular one on the stump. But the president, who has been an active stock trader during his second term, has not defined just who has amassed a fortune off the inflated price of oil products and its downstream effects.

According to a report compiled by Democrats on the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, Trump’s own personal holdings of oil and gas stocks have climbed to a total value between $22.5 million and $81.6 million; that was up from between $12.6 million and $46 million at the end of 2025, just two months before he opted to join Israel in striking Iran on Feb. 28, according to the report, which was first reported by CBS News.

Despite gasoline prices driven to a national average on Tuesday of $4.2661 per gallon due to his Iran conflict, the president defended the war and touted his second-term economy.

Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist, said Trump’s campaign message on economic issues would backfire.

“Hard-working American families will continue to struggle to feed their families and fill their gas tanks,” Bannon said. “The blowback against Trump’s failure to cooperate with congressional Democrats to fix his failed economy will have severe fallout against Republicans.”

A Fox News poll released Tuesday put Trump’s disapproval rating on the Iran war at 64%, with 36% voicing approval. What’s more, 83% of those surveyed said they were concerned about high gas prices and 75% were worried about Iran.

Campaign caveats

One day after offering $1 million to anyone who submits evidence of election fraud about a case that leads to a conviction and casting doubt about the results of a Minnesota Senate race, Trump on Tuesday said he would honor the results of next week’s midterm elections, but with a caveat.

“I will,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Md., as he left for Texas when asked if he would respect the outcome of the midterms. “If they’re honest elections, yeah.”

That comment suggests Trump will determine, race-by-race, which ones to possibly contest. Many congressional Democrats and pro-voter groups have warned his administration will try to disrupt voting or vote counting next week.

That was not the lone caveat he dropped during a brief exchange with reporters.

Trump stopped short of guaranteeing Paxton would defeat Talarico.

“I think he’s going to do very well,” he replied of Paxton after being asked if he still harbored concerns about the race that he voiced earlier this month. “You never know — it’s politics.”

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