President Donald Trump returned Thursday to Texas, looking to promote an economic record he called "phenomenal" and give Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton a political boost.
Trump said “It's such a big race, and I want to just say that he's (Paxton) been a friend of mine for a long time. One of the most loyal people. When I was being hit by the radical left very hard, harder than very few people could have withstood it, Ken Paxton was at my side more than anybody and I have to always remember that because he could be a pain in the ass.”
Texas Attorney General Paxton is behind Democratic challenger State Representative James Talarico in polling. At the rally Trump turned his attention of Talarico.
“You got a freak that's running against him. Give me a break. You notice the way all of a sudden he's eating meat. He doesn't eat meat. He's a vegan, and vegans. ... You know what a vegan is. Vegans don't do well in Texas, okay. So now he goes to a barbecue. He eats meat. You know what he does after he eats? He says, 'excuse me,' (and) he goes behind the tent and he throws up,” Trump said.
Talarico has said he is not a vegan or a vegetarian. There is no factual basis for Trump’s claims that Talarico has an aversion to eating barbecue.
The Trump visit comes as Trump and Republicans face voter frustration and Democratic criticism over the economy. A new Associated Press-NORC poll found just 17% of adults approve of Trump’s handling of the cost of living. During the rally Trump spoke about his economic record.
Trump said “We're bringing prices way down, and oil is lower. Gasoline is lower than it was with Biden, despite the fact that we have a war going on with a country that will never have a nuclear weapon and is ready to fold up. We will win very easily,”
Inflation was 2.9% when Joe Biden left office. It is now 3.4%. The price of gasoline is now approximately 44% higher than when Trump was inaugurated in 2025. Today’s gas prices are higher than Biden’s peak price in June 2022.
Paxton’s Travels
An investigation into Ken Paton’s travel as Texas Attorney is raising eyebrows. The investigation by the associated Press examines whether Ken Paxton’s travel and national political ambitions have come at the expense of his duties as Texas attorney general.
AP found more than 275 out-of-state trips, approximately 730 workdays with no entries on his official calendars, and at least $1.9 million in taxpayer-funded security expenses since he took office in 2015. Destinations included the California wine country, ski resorts and overseas tourism locations.
Brian Slodysko is an investigative reporter with the Associated Press, He co-authored with Jesse Bedayn the story: “Inside Ken Paxton’s jet-setting lifestyle: California wineries, European hot spots and ski resorts”
The Race for the Texas 23CD
One of the hot congressional races in Texas is between a Republican gun rights YouTuber and a child advocate and first-time Democratic candidate.
They are running to represent vast Texas 23rd Congressional District stretches from San Antonio across much of the Texas–Mexico border.
I must warn you in this report there is some vulgar language that one of the candidates uses.
Migrant deaths and the “Genius Award”
For families searching for a missing loved one, an unidentified grave can mean years of unanswered questions.
In South Texas, forensic anthropologist Kate Spradley is working to answer those questions — recovering and identifying the remains of migrants who died crossing the border, and helping return them to their families.
Some were buried without an investigation or even a DNA sample. Through Operation Identification, which she founded in 2013, Spradley combines forensic science with partnerships that reach across borders. Her team’s work has helped identify and return the remains of nearly 300 people.
This week the MacArthur Foundation has named Spradley a 2026 fellow, an honor widely known as the “genius grant.”
What does it take to give someone back their name? And what can these graves tell us about the human cost of migration?
Kate Spradley is a professor of anthropology at Texas State University and the founding director of Operation Identification. She is the founding director of Operation Identification. She was recognized this week with a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.”
