Trump Endorses Ken Paxton for Texas Senate, Attacks Beto O’Rourke
Trump calls Ken Paxton the greatest attorney general in Texas history and says he deserves a Senate seat while mocking his rival.
WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump endorsed Ken Paxton, the 51st attorney general of Texas, for a U.S. Senate seat and attacked former congressman Beto O'Rourke in a post on Truth Social.
Trump framed the endorsement around a series of policy contrasts, calling O’Rourke by a derisive nickname and predicting his defeat while praising Paxton’s record as the state’s top law enforcement officer.
Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Get rid of the guns, get rid of the Oil, get rid of the meat, but Transgender Mutilization of your Children and Open Borders are OK. This is what TalaFREAKO stands for, and this is where he is going to help take Texas if he wins — which he won’t. Ken Paxton is the Greatest Attorney General in Texas History. He deserves to be your Senator! Trump” on October 27, 2026 at 1:08 PM ET.
This is Trump’s 25th message released today, and the last post was 3 minutes ago, 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 194 of his 587 posts over the last 30 days classified as Elections posts.
Paxton has served as attorney general of Texas since January 5, 2015, after winning election on November 4, 2014, according to texasattorneygeneral.gov. He won re-election to a second term in 2018 and a third term in 2022. The office he leads employs more than 4,000 people across 38 divisions and 117 offices statewide, including nearly 750 attorneys who handle more than 30,000 cases each year.
Beyond corporate enforcement, Paxton has built his tenure around challenges to the federal government. He filed 27 lawsuits against the Obama administration during a two-year stretch, six of which reached the U.S. Supreme Court, according to texasattorneygeneral.gov. His office obtained an injunction or other winning ruling in more than 75 percent of federal cases it brought. He led a successful multistate coalition against the Obama-era Clean Power Plan and prevailed against the Department of Labor’s overtime rule.
Paxton’s first major initiative as attorney general was forming a unit to combat human trafficking in Texas, according to texasattorneygeneral.gov. That section helped arrest the chief executive of Backpage.com and facilitated the permanent shutdown of what authorities called the largest online sex-trafficking marketplace in the country. His Child Support Division collected more than $4.8 billion for Texas families in fiscal year 2020, described as an unprecedented single-year amount by any state. That success helped Texas taxpayers avoid over $1 billion in additional public assistance costs.
Zenger analysis
Photo by Zenger analysis
President Trump is the author of The Art of the Deal, Think Like a Billionaire, and Think Big. Analyst and Trump supporter Rod Martin points to The Art of the Deal, Trump's 1987 book, as an explanation of his deal-making philosophy: making big announcements, pivoting often in public statements and, Martin says, ultimately getting what he wanted all along. Critics contend that Trump's books were published decades ago or were aimed at making money, not shedding light. "Generally," Martin said, "critics don't read The Art of the Deal. If they did, they would understand."