博客

Venezuela’s new gold rush moves at

Judge skeptical of Pentagon’s restrictions on press access

March 6, 2026 8:15 PM UTC / Reuters

By Jan Wolfe

节点运行失败

The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, U.S., March 3, 2022. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary
• Companies

• New York Times challenged Pentagon press policy
• Judge questions constitutionality of Pentagon’s approach
• Judge did not rule from bench, but will act promptly

March 6 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge appeared on Friday likely to block the Pentagon’s restrictive new policy on press access that threatens journalists with being ​branded security risks if they ask Defense Department employees to disclose classified or some types of unclassified information.

U.S. District ‌Judge Paul Friedman, hearing about two hours of arguments in Washington in a legal challenge filed by the New York Times, questioned lawyers for President Donald Trump’s administration on whether the policy ran afoul of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment protections for press freedom and free speech.

Jumpstart your morning with the latest legal news delivered straight to your inbox from The Daily Docket newsletter. Sign up here.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

The judge indicated that the policy could stifle traditional ​newsgathering methods.

“Reporters have to be able to ask a question,” Friedman told the Justice Department lawyers. “All you have to do ​is say, ‘I can’t answer that question for national security reasons.’”

The judge added that the policy gives “unbridled discretion” to ⁠defense officials to decide which media outlets are granted building passes to the Pentagon that let them attend press briefings, meet with officials ​and speak with sources.

The policy, implemented in October, was part of the pressure being exerted by the administration on major media organizations that ​Trump has asserted are biased against him.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

The policy requires journalists to acknowledge that they could be deemed security risks and have their Pentagon press badges revoked if they ask Defense Department employees for classified and some types of unclassified information.

The Pentagon, headed by Trump appointee Pete Hegseth, has said in court filings that the ​policy is “pragmatic” and “calculated to protect national security while still allowing press access.”

Friedman pushed back on that claim, saying the policy could interfere with ​constitutionally protected press freedoms. The judge said independent reporting on the Pentagon is “more important than ever” because of the recent U.S. military interventions in Venezuela and ‌Iran.

“That’s ⁠what the First Amendment is all about,” said Friedman, who was appointed by Democratic former President Bill Clinton.

The suit, which seeks a judicial order blocking the policy, called the restrictions a violation of the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment right to due process as well as the First Amendment protections. The judge did not issue a ruling during the hearing but said he would do so promptly.

At least 30 news organizations, including Fox ​News, the Washington Post and Reuters, ​chose to give up their ⁠press badges rather than sign the new policy, citing a threat to press freedoms.

Since the exodus of traditional media outlets, the Pentagon has assembled a new press corps consisting largely of pro-Trump outlets and individuals.

The ​Pentagon declined to comment after Friday’s hearing.

Asked in October about the policy, Trump told reporters that Hegseth “finds ​the press to ⁠be very disruptive in terms of world peace and maybe security for our nation.”

The case brought by the New York Times follows another one brought last year by the Associated Press against three senior Trump aides after the White House limited the news organization’s access to press gatherings.

The White ⁠House took ​the action after the AP decided to continue using the Gulf of Mexico’s established ​name, while acknowledging Trump’s executive order renaming it the Gulf of America. That lawsuit remains pending.

Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Will Dunham

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Trump says defense giants will quadruple production of ‘exquisite class’ weapons after White House meeting

White House says meeting was scheduled weeks ago as Operation Epic Fury continues targeting Iranian military assets

By Morgan Phillips
Fox News
Published March 6, 2026 10:57am EST | Updated March 6, 2026 4:33pm EST

President Donald Trump said Friday that during a meeting with defense executives they had agreed to increase production of what he called “exquisite class” weapons by four times as his administration looks to accelerate weapons production while military operations against Iran continue.

“Expansion began three months prior to the meeting, and Plants and Production of many of these Weapons are already under way,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after the meeting.

“We have a virtually unlimited supply of Medium and Upper Medium Grade Munitions, which we are using, as an example, in Iran, and recently used in Venezuela,” he said. “Regardless, however, we have also increased Orders at these levels.”

Trump said the meeting concluded with executives agreeing to come back to the White House in two months.

The White House emphasized the session was scheduled weeks ago and was not convened in response to immediate battlefield shortages. Officials described the meeting as part of a broader effort to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and speed production of American-made weapons.

Companies in attendance Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX Corporation, Boeing, Honeywell, BAE Systems and L3Harris Technologies.

“We support the President’s focus on speed and investment to deliver military capabilities. With our industry-leading levels of investment and decades of proven performance, we continue to grow production capacity and deliver mission-ready technologies for the nation’s warfighters,” Northrop Grumman said in a statement.

The meeting comes as U.S. forces remain engaged in Operation Epic Fury, a campaign targeting Iranian military assets following coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes. Administration officials have maintained that U.S. readiness remains strong, even as the pace of missile defense operations has drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

During the 2025 12-day Iran conflict, U.S. forces fired more than 150 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors — roughly a quarter of the global inventory — to shield Israel and U.S. assets from Iranian missile attacks, according to defense assessments. Patriot PAC-3 MSE missiles are currently produced at a rate of roughly 600 to 650 annually, with replenishment timelines measured in months or years rather than weeks.

PHYSICIST LAWMAKER WARNS IRAN COULD BUILD ‘HIROSHIMA-STYLE’ WEAPON, SAYS US LACKS URANIUM PLAN

U.S. and Israeli officials previously estimated that Iran had a large ballistic missile arsenal — roughly 2,000 to 3,000 missiles of various types at the outset of the conflict. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Thursday Iran’s missile attacks have decreased 90% since the start of the conflict.

In this U.S. Navy handout, the USS Thomas Hudner fires a Tomahawk land attack missile in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 1, 2026, at sea.(U.S. Navy/via Getty Images)

U.S. Central Command released footage showing strikes on Iranian mobile missile launchers.(@CENTCOM via X)

Defense planners have described missile defense inventories as part of a broader strategic balancing act. The same high-end systems used to protect U.S. bases and partners in the Middle East are also supplied to Ukraine and positioned in the Indo-Pacific, creating what some analysts characterize as a “zero-sum” competition for inventory across theaters.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Lawmakers emerging from recent classified briefings have raised questions about sustainability if operations expand.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., warned the campaign could become a “math problem,” balancing incoming missile volumes against finite interceptor supplies and production capacity.

Other members, including Republicans briefed on the operation, have said officials assured Congress U.S. forces remain in strong shape.

Current and former defense officials have drawn a distinction between offensive strike weapons — which can often be surged from prepositioned stocks — and defensive interceptors such as Patriot and THAAD systems, which require longer production timelines and cannot be rapidly manufactured at scale.

Related Article

Operation Epic Fury destroys Iran’s navy and cuts missile attacks by 90% in ongoing campaign

知情官员称俄罗斯向伊朗提供美军定位信息

2026年3月7日 06:49 / 联合早报

美国官员称俄罗斯正在向伊朗提供有关美军位置的情报。这是美国一主要对手参与这场战争的首个迹象。

《华盛顿邮报》星期五（3月6日）引述三名知情官员称，这些目标定位信息包括美军在中东地区的军舰和飞机位置。

俄罗斯对伊朗的支持程度尚不完全明确，但自上周美国和以色列对伊朗发动大规模空袭以来，伊朗军方定位美军的能力已有所下降。此后战事不断升级，引发伊朗的报复性打击，并将邻国卷入其中，试图使美国、以色列及其盟友付出沉重代价。

白宫没有直接评论俄罗斯据称对伊朗的支持。

白宫发言人凯利在一份声明中回应路透社提问说：“伊朗政权正遭受彻底的打击。他们的弹道导弹报复行动日益减少，他们的海军正被摧毁，他们的生产能力正被瓦解，他们的代理人几乎没有进行任何抵抗。”

克里姆林宫6日表示俄罗斯正与伊朗领导层代表进行对话。当记者问及莫斯科是否在帮助德黑兰时，克里姆林宫拒绝提供详情。

俄罗斯驻华盛顿大使馆和俄罗斯常驻纽约联合国代表团均未立即回应置评请求。

近年来俄罗斯的出口因俄乌战争相关制裁而遭受重创，美以袭击伊朗意外提振了俄罗斯经济，使其石油和天然气需求大幅增加。

美国在俄乌战争期间向乌克兰提供了情报信息。

As Trump takes out world leaders, democracy takes a back seat

Analysis by Aaron Blake
1 hr 58 min ago
PUBLISHED Mar 6, 2026, 5:03 PM ET

South America The Middle East

[See all topics]

Facebook TweetEmailLink Threads

Link Copied!

President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden White House after stepping off Marine One, on March 1, 2026

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

When the first Trump administration authored its national security strategy in 2017, democracy figured prominently.

It labeled democracy something that “we hold dear.” It said the democratization of key allies was one of the “greatest triumphs of American statecraft.” It said the Western Hemisphere stood “on the cusp of prosperity and peace, built upon democracy.”

When the second Trump administration released the same document in December, much had changed. Democracy got about one-quarter of the mentions – in some cases actually to downplay its importance.

Ad Feedback

The United States now aimed to build stable and beneficial relationships with other countries, it said, “without imposing on them democratic or other social change that differs widely from their traditions and histories.”

It was, as The New York Times noted, a massive departure from decades of American foreign policy.

And it was a preview of things to come.

Trump has now taken out the leaders of two different countries in the three months since that document was released – in both cases giving him great power to chart the future of those countries’ governments. And in both cases, he’s been arguably even more dismissive of democracy than the document was.

In Venezuela, the Trump administration removed Nicolás Maduro only to allow his deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, take control. This despite the Trump administration having said both of them were illegitimately elected.

And now, Trump is taking much the same tack in Iran.

Asked Friday by CNN’s Dana Bash whether he was insisting on a democratic Iran, Trump said flatly: “No, I’m saying there has to be a leader that’s going be fair and just.”

Women hold pictures of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as they mourn in Kerman, Iran, on March 1, 2026.

Qasem/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images

He said, “It’s going to work like did in Venezuela” – i.e. a leader being picked not by the people, but in part by the US. He even allowed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the initial strikes, could be replaced with another religious leader.

“I deal with a lot of religious leaders, and they are fantastic,” Trump added.

Just two months ago, Trump was cheering on protesters and suggesting a popular revolution. “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!… HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” he posted on social media.

Now he’s saying those people might just have to deal with an acceptable candidate effectively chosen by him to continue leading an Islamic theocracy.

(Trump has also in the past week floated scenarios in which the Iranian people would still overthrow their government, but he’s lately focused more on picking a leader for them.)

None of it should be terribly surprising, of course. For years, Trump has demonstrated relatively little regard for democracy and often seemed to have a more affinity with and respect for strongman leaders.

Upon the 10-year anniversary of his 2016 campaign launch last year, I wrote that one of his biggest political impacts was getting his party to abandon Reaganism – how he deemphasized high-minded ideals like democracy and morality, in favor of a more Machiavellian brand of politics.

And in his second term, he’s consistently sought to bulldoze democratic limits on his own power while using his bully pulpit to craft a much more transactional administration.

In that respect, it tracks that he would prefer pliable autocrats to reformers and elections.

But it’s also stunning to see it in practice.

You could understand not wanting to go the democracy-building route in Iran, where history suggests it would be very difficult and likely require a significant investment of US troops and resources.

Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are escorted as they head toward the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Manhattan, on January 5, 2026.

Adam Gray/Reuters

But Venezuela has already had a stable democracy – for much of the latter half of the 20th century, in fact – and it’s in the region that the first Trump administration assured was on the “cusp” of a prosperous, democratic future.

Yet very shortly after Trump launched into his newfound foreign interventionism, he made clear this was not a project aimed at spreading democracy – if democracy was even a goal at all.

After Maduro’s removal, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado declared: “Venezuelans, the hour of freedom has arrived.”

Then Trump shocked many by dismissing the notion of installing Machado or the opposition leader that the Trump administration regards as the legitimate winner of the 2024 election, Edmundo González Urrutia.

“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country,” Trump said of Machado.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado looks on during a press conference with members of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Capitol Hill on January 20, 2026.

Kylie Cooper/Reuters

Asked later that week whether his goal was more about stability or democracy, Trump suggested stability was the first priority, and democracy would flow from there.

“I don’t know,” Trump said. “To me, it’s almost the same thing. We want stability, but we do want democracy. Ultimately, it will be democracy.”

Then came a very telling scene in a New York Times transcript of an interview with Trump.

The Times asked Trump when he wanted to put Venezuela back on democratic course. Trump ignored the question, instead talking about the success of the mission to capture Maduro.

Then the Times asked again.

But just then, a staff member walked in with a model of Trump’s coveted and under-construction White House ballroom.

“I love democracy. I’m a big fan,” Trump assured.

But then he got distracted by the shiny object that had just entered the room. This, after all, was something that clearly interested him more than the prospect of Venezuela recapturing its democratic tradition.

“Let me show this before we talk about – wait – before I talk about democracy,” Trump said.

He never did talk about democracy again. And now that he’s taken down the leader of another country, he’s still not really talking about it.

South America The Middle East

[See all topics]

Facebook TweetEmailLink Threads

Link Copied!

Ad Feedback

Preservation group again asks judge to halt White House ballroom, arguing Trump administration lacks legal authority

March 6, 2026 / 5:52 PM EST / CBS News

A preservation group is once again asking a federal judge to pause all construction for a massive ballroom on the White House grounds backed by President Trump.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation first sued over the project in December, after the White House suddenly tore down the East Wing to make room for the ballroom and raised hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the 90,000-square-foot space.

In its latest court filing on Thursday, the group argued the Trump administration doesn’t have legal authority to build a ballroom without congressional approval. The group says a federal law that lets the president spend money on the “alteration” and “improvement” of the White House appears to only apply to relatively “minor” projects that use money appropriated by Congress, not a large-scale ballroom funded by private donations.

The group said the administration is “poised to commence within the next month above-grade construction that will dwarf the White House, irreversibly damage the Executive Residence, and distort the grounds and layout of President’s Park — all without Congressional approval, and all without meaningful consideration of the public’s input.”

Last month, a federal judge turned down an earlier request from the group to halt the ballroom project on other legal grounds, including that the president doesn’t have constitutional authority and that the administration hasn’t gone through the necessary reviews.

But U.S. District Judge Richard Leon suggested the group should have instead focused its legal challenges on whether the ballroom project exceeded the president’s legal power.

The judge said that if the National Trust for Historic Preservation recasts its legal arguments along those lines, “the Court will expeditiously consider it and, if viable, address the merits of the novel and weighty issues presented.”

The Trump administration has long argued that the president has broad legal authority to make changes to the White House complex, and says other presidents have made modifications.

The National Park Service expects the ballroom project to be completed in summer 2028, less than a year before the end of Mr. Trump’s term. The administration has said vertical construction on the project could start as soon as next month.

The latest legal challenge comes as a federal board that oversees D.C.-area federal projects prepares to vote on the ballroom early next month. The National Capital Planning Commission — led by Trump appointees — reviewed plans for the ballroom on Thursday and heard public comments, but did not vote due to the “large amount of public input on the project,” a spokesperson said.

The commission received tens of thousands of written comments on the ballroom, many of which were harshly critical of the ballroom itself, the decision to abruptly tear down the East Wing and the decision to accept private donations.

美国海关：对等关税退款系统45天内准备就绪

发布/2026年3月7日 07:24

美国海关总署将在45天内建立一套系统，用于处理被最高法院裁定非法的“对等”关税退款。

路透社报道，美国海关与边境保护局（CBP）执行主任洛德星期五（3月6日）在一份法庭文件中说，CBP无法遵守一项法院命令，即停止处理包括总统特朗普援引《国际紧急经济权力法》实施的进口关税。

洛德向法官提交的宣誓书中说，CBP正“尽一切可能”创建一个自动化的关税退款系统，这个系统“将比现有流程更简单、更高效”，并可能在45天内投入使用。

洛德发布声明之际，正值美国政府律师与联邦贸易法官试图敲定一项全面的和解方案，以向约33万进口商退还1660亿美元（约2118亿新元）的关税款项。

美国最高法院两周前裁定，总统特朗普援引1977年《国际紧急经济权力法》对全球贸易伙伴产品加征对等关税的做法违反宪法。但特朗普随即援引《1974年贸易法》第122条款，宣布对全球征收10%的新关税，为期150天。美国财长贝森特预计这项新关税将在本周提高到15%。

美国俄勒冈州3月5日联合另外23个州向美国国际贸易法院提起诉讼，要求阻止特朗普政府近期宣布实施的新关税措施。

Kristi Noem’s firing fails to sway Democrats as DHS shutdown drags on

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calls fired DHS secretary a ‘corrupt lackey’ as shutdown heads for fourth week

By Elizabeth Elkind, Alex Miller
Fox News

Published March 6, 2026 3:00pm EST

Democrats may be celebrating Kristi Noem’s ouster from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but they are still digging their heels in against ending the agency’s weekslong shutdown.

“It’s not like Kristi Noem was the one who was involved in negotiating anything. She was a corrupt lackey. So, we were dealing with the White House before, and we’re going to continue to deal with the White House at this point,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters during a news conference Thursday.

That point has since been echoed by several other Democratic lawmakers despite Noem’s firing apparently being one of their key demands in exchange for allowing DHS to be fully funded through the remainder of this fiscal year.

Congressional Democrats aren’t budging from their shutdown position despite DHS Secretary Kristi Noem getting fired.(Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Congressional Democrats have maintained a unified blockade of funding for the agency in pursuit of stringent reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Democrats and the White House have been negotiating, but neither side has agreed to compromise terms.

And the shutdown is now guaranteed to drag on for another month, given that the House will be out for a week and the Senate is unable to advance any DHS funding legislation.

“I’m waiting for them to give us an offer, make us an offering as to what it is that you want us to vote on,” Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., said. “I want to see what the guardrails are before I vote on this funding. … I don’t want us to have masked individuals in my community. I want to see body cameras. I want you to identify yourself when you’re making an arrest.”

Many Democrats aren’t sure that Noem’s chosen replacement, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., would be the answer to the changes they want.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS VOTE TO CONTINUE DHS SHUTDOWN DESPITE IRAN THREAT, NOEM’S OUSTER

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., right, plans to block Mullin’s confirmation in a bid to extract Democrats’ long-sought reforms to ICE.(Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., suggested to Fox News Digital that he was skeptical that any replacement for Noem would be more effective in the discussions given they still have to answer to Trump and his policies.

And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plans to block Mullin’s confirmation in a bid to extract Democrats’ long-sought reforms to ICE.

“The rot runs deep,” Schumer said. “If the president wants accountability, he must do more than fire one official — he must end the violence and rein in ICE.”

Republican leaders in the House and Senate both tried again to advance a DHS funding bill that was released as part of wider bipartisan government funding discussions earlier this year.

The bill passed the House with all but four Democrats voting “no,” even hours after Noem’s ouster.

In the Senate, news of Noem’s firing erupted as another push by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to pass a full-year funding bill began. Like their colleagues in the House, Senate Democrats were unfazed by the change and once more blocked the legislation.

SCHUMER, DEMS HOLD FIRM ON DHS FUNDING DESPITE NOEM’S BOMBSHELL OUSTING

Congressional Democrats aren’t completely swayed by the change in leadership at DHS after Kristi Noem was fired in favor of Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

When asked if he believed removing Noem from the equation would make a difference, Thune said, “It should.”

“[The Democrats] have been complaining about that forever,” Thune said. “And, so, this, to me, is a huge development, I would think, in the funding conversation, and hopefully they’ll get more earnest about coming to the table and trying to get a deal. I mean, we should find out soon enough.”

For now, Senate Democrats appear firmly entrenched in their position, even with their colleague Mullin taking the helm of the agency.

“No, I don’t think it makes any difference,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., told Fox News Digital. “They have got to put in the reforms that we need.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Mullin, who has staunchly opposed the stringent reforms Democrats seek for the agency, said he would meet with Schumer in a bid to earn his and every Senate Democrat’s vote during his forthcoming confirmation process.

“I’m not going to get into, you know, a tit-for-tat, but if they have real concerns, I’m going to listen to it. I’m going to see if it’s practical,” Mullin said. “But nothing’s going to prevent me from doing my job. I’m going to enforce the policies and the laws that Congress has passed, and we’re going to protect our homeland.”

But not all Democrats were pessimistic.

Asked by Fox News Digital whether Noem’s firing would help advance DHS funding talks, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said, “I think it allows us to reopen the negotiations.”

Related Article

Kristi Noem ousted from Homeland Security post amid recent turmoil

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

Hegseth on reports Russia aided Iran: “Anything that shouldn’t be happening” will be “confronted strongly”

Updated on: March 6, 2026 / 6:00 PM EST / CBS News

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that President Trump is “well aware of who’s talking to who” amid reports that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran on U.S. movements in the region.

Hegseth told Major Garrett in an interview airing Sunday on “60 Minutes” that the U.S. is “tracking everything” and factoring it into battle plans. “The American people can rest assured their commander-in-chief is well aware of who’s talking to who,” he said. “And anything that shouldn’t be happening, whether it’s in public or back-channeled, is being confronted and confronted strongly.”

Earlier Friday, multiple sources, including a senior U.S. official, told CBS News that Russia is providing intelligence to Iran regarding U.S. positions in the Middle East during the ongoing joint U.S. and Israeli military operations in Iran. It was the first known indication that Russia is aiding Iran.

Asked if the American people can expect conversations with the Russians to stop their involvement in the conflict, Hegseth said Mr. Trump “has a unique relationship with a lot of world leaders where he can get things done that other presidents, certainly Joe Biden, never could have.” He added that “through direct conversations or indirect, through him one-to-one or through his Cabinet, messages definitely can be delivered.”

When asked whether Russia’s involvement puts U.S. personnel in danger, Hegseth said: “We’re putting the other guys in danger, and that’s our job. So we’re not concerned about that. … But the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re gonna live.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked during an appearance on Fox News about Russia providing intelligence to Iran on U.S. assets, said she could not comment on “intelligence reports that are leaked to the press.” The intelligence aid from Russia was first reported by The Washington Post.

“Whether or not this happened, frankly, it doesn’t really matter, because President Trump and the United States military are absolutely decimating the rogue Iranian terrorist regime,” she said.

Later, Leavitt clarified to reporters that she meant Russia sharing intelligence on U.S. assets with Iran “doesn’t matter” because “it clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran, because we are completely decimating them.”

Watch more of Major Garrett’s interview with Hegseth Sunday on “60 Minutes.”

Trump’s dilemma in Texas

Published Time: 2026-03-06T20:19:34.321Z / Source: https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/06/politics/texas-senate-runoff-trump-endorsement

Analysis by

Aaron Blake

3 hr ago

PUBLISHED Mar 6, 2026, 3:19 PM ET

Donald Trump Primary elections Congressional news

[See all topics]

Facebook TweetEmailLink Threads

Link Copied!

Sen. John Cornyn, President Donald Trump and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Getty Images

It’s been two days since President Donald Trump said he would not only endorse a candidate in the Texas primary runoff between Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton, but that he would also try to get the other candidate to bow out.

That endorsement still hasn’t come.

Trump said on Friday that he’ll make a “decision fairly shortly,” but suggested he first wants to get some clarity on voter ID legislation he favors – and where the candidates stand on it.

Ad Feedback

“I feel very strongly that we have to have the full and complete SAVE America Act, OK? I want the SAVE America Act. It is more important than everything else we’re working on other than the war,” Trump told CNN’s Dana Bash in a brief phone interview.

So it appears we’re in a bit of a holding pattern. Which might not be too surprising. Because even as Trump’s endorsement is often the be-all, end-all in GOP primaries, this situation is not an easy one for him.

The conventional wisdom – and the most logical outcome – would seem to be that Trump will endorse Cornyn ahead of the May 26 runoff.

It would be shocking for an incumbent president to endorse against an incumbent senator from his own party, especially given Cornyn is backed by the national party.

Cornyn also did better than many expected in Tuesday’s primaries, narrowly outpacing Paxton 42%-41%.

And finally – and perhaps most urgently – Texas Democrats on Tuesday nominated the candidate that Republicans seem to be more concerned about in the general election, in state Rep. James Talarico. Given Paxton’s baggage – which includes a since settled securities fraud investigation, an impeachment by the state House (and acquittal by the Senate), and allegations of infidelity from his wife – there is real fear that nominating him could not only jeopardize the seat if there’s a blue wave in November, but possibly help Democrats flip the Senate.

So, in theory, it would make a lot of sense for Trump to swoop in, spur Cornyn to victory, and allow the GOP to hopefully not have to worry about this seat in the fall.

But reality is a little more complicated. For one, trying to nudge aside Paxton could be demoralizing for a MAGA movement that holds him in very high regard but has little respect for Cornyn. After Trump made his announcement Wednesday, a number of prominent MAGA social media accounts sought to warn the president off a potential Cornyn endorsement.

“Cornyn hates Trump and MAGA,” MAGA influencer Mike Cernovich said. “Endorsing him will be a nail in the Trump administration’s coffin.”

Trump himself in 2023 wrote a post suggesting Cornyn was about as bad as then-Sen. Mitt Romney, a frequent critic. Trump called Cornyn “weak, ineffective, and very bad for the Republican Party” and suggested he was “always quick to surrender to the Dems.” Trump still has the loyalty of his base, but he’s done a number of things in recent months that risk jeopardizing it. A Cornyn endorsement would add to the list.

But perhaps more significantly, Paxton is – at least for now – insisting he wouldn’t abide by Trump’s wishes to bow out.

“I owe it to the people of Texas,” Paxton said Wednesday.

(Paxton did offer Thursday to drop out of the race if Senate leadership agreed to pass the Save America Act without the usual 60-vote threshold. But that’s likely a stunt; it’s very unlikely Senate Republicans would actually do that, given they don’t seem to have the votes and it would further erode the filibuster.)

If anything, Paxton’s position feels like a bluff to try and prevent Trump from endorsing Cornyn. But if Paxton were to actually stay in the race, there’s no absolute guarantee that the president’s endorsement would be dispositive.

Trump’s endorsees almost always win primaries, but there have been exceptions in the past. According to a compilation by Ballotpedia, Trump’s preferred candidates have lost nominations for:

• Senator from Utah in 2024
• Congressional seats in Colorado and South Carolina in 2024
• Five congressional seats in 2022
• Three governor’s races in 2022

Even in this week’s elections, Trump-endorsed North Carolina state Senate President Phil Berger is locked in an exceedingly close race.

These are very much the exception rather than the rule. And Trump’s endorsement likely carries even more weight now that he’s an incumbent president. But even the polling suggests it might not necessarily lock up the race for Cornyn.

A University of Houston poll from late January, for instance, showed supporters of Rep. Wesley Hunt, who finished third in the primary, were more inclined toward Paxton (48% of them) than Cornyn (35%).

The same poll also suggested voting for Cornyn could be a hurdle for some primary voters, given his favorable rating among likely voters was a relatively low 61%, with 30% disliking him. While Cornyn’s net favorable rating was plus-31, Paxton’s was plus-50 (72% favorable to 22% unfavorable).

A University of Texas poll last month, meanwhile, showed both men with similar overall approval ratings. But again, Paxton was in slightly better shape among Republicans.

And if voters don’t necessarily share the national GOP’s concerns about Paxton’s electability, who’s to say they won’t just go for the guy they like more? At that point, it would truly just be about obeying Trump’s wishes.

Trump loves the idea of playing kingmaker, and he’s proven quite good at it. But this could be a really big test of it.

Donald Trump Primary elections Congressional news

[See all topics]

Facebook TweetEmailLink Threads

Link Copied!

Ad Feedback