Trump-backed Texas AG Ken Paxton wins Republican primary over Sen. John Cornyn. Why Iran’s military targets are becoming more difficult to find. Plus, “Summer House” fans bond over the reality TV show’s messy drama.
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John Cornyn undone by past Trump misgivings after decades as a loyal party man
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated Sen. John Cornyn for the Republican Senate nomination, the latest challenger backed by President Donald Trump to unseat an incumbent. Paxton will face Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in the general election.
But some Republicans fear Paxton’s past controversies — including an impeachment by the GOP-led Texas Legislature and a divorce from his wife “on biblical grounds” — could force the race in Texas to become a key fight for the Senate majority.
Trump, who threw his support behind Paxton with just a week to go until the primary runoff, said he “worked well” with Cornyn but that the senator “was not supportive of me when times were tough.”
Cornyn, a senator since 2003, disputed that he was disloyal to Trump and pointed out that he voted “yes on every major Trump law.” However, Paxton’s victory captured an important reality of the GOP in 2026: That’s not enough.
In Trump’s first term, Cornyn was part of a group of Republicans who sought to nudge Trump toward traditional conservatism. After the Jan. 6 riot, Cornyn remained deeply critical of the incident and said Trump shouldn’t run for president again in 2024 — though he later changed his tune. And more recently, Cornyn was among many Republicans reluctant to nuke the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold to pass the Save America Act to impose nationwide voter ID laws.
Trump, it seems, never forgot his past criticisms.
Read more about Cornyn’s decadeslong political career.
More Texas election results:
- Freshman Rep. Christian Menefee defeated longtime Rep. Al Green in the Democratic primary runoff in Texas’ 18th Congressional District in a rare incumbent-on-incumbent matchup.
- Johnny Garcia won the Democratic primary in Texas’ 35th Congressional District, defeating a rival who was condemned for her antisemitic comments.
- Former Rep. Colin Allred unseated Rep. Julie Johnson in a Democratic primary runoff for a House seat reshaped by redistricting.
More politics news:
- The Republican push to redraw congressional maps hit roadblocks in two states yesterday. First, a federal court stopped a new Alabama map from going into effect, writing that the district lines “intentionally discriminated based on race.”
- A similar redistricting push failed in the South Carolina state senate.
- New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a comprehensive housing plan that aims to build 200,000 affordable units and preserve an additional 200,000 over the next decade.
- Joe Biden sued the DOJ to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts of conversations with the ghostwriter of his 2017 memoir.
Send your questions for Laura Jarrett
Tomorrow is decision day at the Supreme Court, which has yet to issue rulings on consequential cases such as birthright citizenship and Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. NBC News senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett will be ready to break everything down in a livestream for subscribers at 3 p.m. ET. Ask her anything — about past Supreme Court decisions, major legal cases or her time as a co-anchor of “Saturday TODAY” — and she may answer it live. Submit your question here.
Vance opens up about his faith journey
Ahead of the release of his second book, “Communion,” JD Vance spoke about his faith journey, his wife’s role in it and how it informs his job as vice president. Usha Vance, he said, was a “vicious editor” who helped shape nearly every facet of the book, which will be released next month and serves as a follow-up to his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.”
Vance faced criticism last fall for sharing his hope that his wife might one day become a Christian. But he acknowledged that she’s unlikely to convert — “and I’m OK with that,” he said in a call with NBC News.
He also shared how themes explored in the book have applied to his relatively short political career. On the Iran war, Vance said his faith has forced him to “ask very difficult questions about whether a war is justified.” And on Trump’s controversial “anti-weaponization” fund, Vance said he “understands the resistance” from some fellow Republicans.
What else Vance had to say about loyalty to Trump and 2028.
Iran military targets are getting more challenging to hit, sources say
The Defense Department has developed a list of additional targets in Iran should President Donald Trump decide to resume combat operations, according to three U.S. officials and national security experts. But there is a catch: Those targets could be much harder to find.
That’s because after weeks of U.S. strikes, Iran has made its missile launchers, drone capabilities and other targets hidden, obscured or mobile, making any military operations more challenging than during the first eight weeks of combat, the sources said.
The target list raises questions about Trump’s declarations that Operation Epic Fury has already degraded Iran’s military beyond the point that it can pose a threat to the U.S. or its allies in the region. Meanwhile, the Trump administration insists that a deal to end the war is close, though the president’s social media posts are adding to the confusion.
Read All About It
- At least one person was killed and nine people were missing after an implosion at a manufacturing plant in Washington state.
- Clarence B. Jones, a top civil rights activist and lawyer who helped write part of MLK Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, died at the age of 95.
- For the first time, a blood test has been added to the list of the American Cancer Society’s recommended screenings for colorectal cancer.
- How did the tech world respond to Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical about AI? They largely stayed quiet — with a few exceptions.
- The U.S. men’s national team unveiled its World Cup roster. See the full list.
Staff Pick: Bravo’s ‘Summer House’ reunion becomes a can’t-miss event
A lengthy line that spans a city block isn’t exactly a new sight in New York City. But the line outside an AMC movie theater last night was buzzing with anticipation as reality TV fans awaited a screening of the first episode of Bravo’s three-part “Summer House” reunion series.
If you haven’t yet heard about the “Summer House” scandal, it’s basically about two people in a group of friends who decided to date even though they had close friendships with each other’s exes. They lied about it to the entire friend group until they were caught by fans of the show.
The drama might sound trivial to some people, but it cuts deeper for fans. This show captivated people because it was tethered by what seemed to be genuine relationships in a messy world. The emotional connection could be felt in the theater and heard in the collective cheers, laughter, gasps, “boos” and “awws” as viewers watched the potentially irreparable deception unravel.
A group of women I spoke to described the core of this drama as a friendship breakup — an agonizing betrayal they couldn’t imagine going through themselves.
— Doha Madani, senior reporter
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