Trump Endorses Capito for Re-Election in West Virginia

Trump grants his complete endorsement to Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the Environment and Public Works Committee chair, praising her energy and coal agenda for West Virginia.

First Published: August 3, 2026, 12:19 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump endorsed Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia for re-election, backing the state’s senior senator and Environment and Public Works Committee chair.

Trump called Capito’s work tireless and tied his support to his own performance in the state, which he carried in three straight presidential elections. His endorsement lands as Capito, the first woman elected to the Senate from West Virginia, prepares to defend her seat.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Senator Shelley Moore Capito is doing a tremendous job representing the Wonderful People of West Virginia, a State I love and WON BIG in 2016, 2020, and 2024! As the Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Shelley is working to advance Pro Growth policies, unleash America’s Energy Dominance, and prioritize Clean Air, Clean Water, Clean Soil, and BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL for ALL Americans. Shelley is fighting tirelessly to Grow the Economy, Secure the Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Support our Great Military/Vets, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment. Senator Shelley Moore Capito has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election — SHE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” on August 3, 2026 at 4:05 PM ET.

This is Trump’s sixth message released today, and the last post came 25 minutes earlier, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 74 of his 464 posts over the last 30 days classified as Elections posts.

Capito entered the Senate in 2014, becoming the first female U.S. senator in West Virginia’s history according to naco.org. She won that first race with the largest margin of victory for a Republican in state history, taking more than 62 percent of the vote and all 55 counties according to naco.org. She serves on the Appropriations Committee, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Rules and Administration Committee according to naco.org.

Capito has chaired the Environment and Public Works Committee since January 3, 2025, and serves as dean of West Virginia’s congressional delegation according to wikipedia.org. She held the U.S. House seat for West Virginia’s 2nd congressional district from 2001 to 2015 according to wikipedia.org. She is the daughter of Arch Moore Jr., a three-term West Virginia governor and six-term U.S. representative according to wikipedia.org.

The endorsement carries stakes for the state’s energy sector, which Trump named directly in his coal and pipeline language. Coal producers and pipeline builders stand to gain from a chairman who steers environmental policy toward fossil fuels. Environmental groups and clean-energy advocates stand on the other side of that committee gavel.

West Virginia has become one of the most reliably Republican states in presidential contests, a shift that reshaped its congressional delegation over two decades. Capito’s father held the governor’s mansion when the state still leaned Democratic. The daughter now anchors a delegation that has moved firmly to the right, a magnitude of realignment that few states have matched in the same span.

This has happened before. Trump endorsed Capito’s 2020 re-election bid, and she won that race by a wide margin, then took the committee gavel four years later after Republicans regained the Senate majority. Early endorsements from Trump have become a fixture of Republican primary seasons.

West Virginia voters will render the next decision on Capito’s seat at the ballot box, though the state has not yet set a primary or general election date for her re-election contest. A date for that vote has not been announced.

West Virginia has sent political dynasties to Washington before, as the Moore family shows. Arch Moore Jr. won three terms as governor between 1969 and 1989 and served six terms in the U.S. House according to wikipedia.org. A 1990 federal conviction on corruption charges ended his tenure and sent him to prison according to wikipedia.org. His daughter rebuilt the family name in office, rising from the state House of Delegates to become the first woman West Virginia sent to the Senate.