As Texas waits on President Donald Trump's promised endorsement, Sen. John Cornyn isn't holding back on his runoff opponent in the Republican primary.
His campaign is releasing a new video Thursday with a litany of ethical and personal accusations against state Attorney General Ken Paxton. It's an initial salvo in a second round of campaigning that could be even more bitter and expensive than the first.
The video revisits issues like Paxton's impeachment trial on corruption charges, which ended in an acquittal but exposed an extramarital affair, and a state fraud indictment for securities fraud, which Paxton resolved with a plea deal without admitting guilt.
Cornyn's team said it's spending tens of thousands of dollars to keep the video in front of voters' eyes. It's pocket change in a race where spending surpassed $110 million before Tuesday, but a possible foreshadowing of a future deluge if the six-minute clip is edited into television spots.
Trump did not endorse a candidate in the primary, frustrating Republicans who fear that they're wasting time and resources in Texas that could be devoted to more competitive battleground states. The president said Wednesday that he would weigh in on the May 26 runoff and expect the candidate without his endorsement to drop out, but he hasn't announced a decision.
Cornyn narrowly finished first in the primary that ended on Tuesday, but he did not cross the 50%-plus threshold necessary to avoid a runoff. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt finished third and was disqualified.
Party leaders are pushing for Cornyn, a stalwart incumbent seeking his fifth term, and warn that Paxton has too much baggage to be successful in a November general election against James Talarico, the Democratic nominee.
But Paxton has proven resilient to attacks over the years, and he's fashioned himself as a political warrior for Trump's “Make America Great Again” movement. He told conservative influencer Benny Johnson that he wouldn't drop out, no matter what happens with the endorsement.
“I’m going to give people in Texas a choice,” Paxton said. “The people in Washington can have their own opinion. The president can have his own opinion.”
Paxton made a different offer on social media. There, he said he would consider dropping out if Senate Republican leaders lifted the filibuster to pass legislation supported by Trump to create strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting. The proposal has stalled in the Senate.
Trump appeared frustrated by Paxton's intransigence.
“That is bad for him," he told Politico. “So maybe, maybe that leads me to go the other direction.”
The president previously wrote on social media that he would endorse a Texas candidate because the divisive contest cannot "be allowed to go on any longer.”
President Donald Trump speaks during an event about the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate waves to supporters at an election night primary watch party on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, talks with reporters as he leaves the Senate chamber during a Senate war powers vote on Iran on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The United States and its allies in the Middle East are seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Various countries, including the United States, have approached Ukraine for help in defending against the Iranian drones, Zelenskyy said late Wednesday. He said he has spoken in recent days with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait about possible cooperation.
Russia has fired tens of thousands of Shaheds at Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor just over four years ago, launching a swarm of more than 800 drones and decoys in its biggest nighttime barrage. Iran has responded to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes by launching the same type of drones at countries in the Middle East.
Ukrainian assistance in countering Iranian drones will be provided only if it does not weaken Ukraine’s own defenses, and if it adds leverage to Kyiv’s diplomatic efforts to stop the Russian invasion, according to the Ukrainian leader.
“We help to defend from war those who help us, Ukraine, bring a just end to the war” with Russia, Zelenskyy said. Later Thursday, Zelenskyy said he had received a U.S. request for support to defend against the drones in the Middle East and had given the order for equipment to be provided along with Ukrainian experts without providing further details.
“Ukraine helps partners who help our security and the protection of our people’s lives,” he added in a social media post.
Ukraine has pioneered the development of cut-price drone killers that cost as little as $1,000, rewriting the air defense rule book and making other countries take notice.
European countries got a wake-up call last September on the changed nature of air defense when Poland scrambled multimillion-dollar military assets, including F-35 and F-16 fighter jets and Black Hawk helicopters, in response to airspace violations by cheap drones.
Ukrainian manufacturers have developed low-cost interceptor drones specifically designed to hunt and destroy Shaheds, and its rapidly expanding drone industry is producing excess capacity.
Zelenskyy announced earlier this year that Ukraine would begin exporting the battle-tested systems.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said before chairing a meeting of EU and Gulf foreign ministers via video link Thursday that the talks would look at how Ukraine’s experience can help countries counter Iranian drones.
The Iran war, now in its sixth day, has drawn international attention away from Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, and forced the postponement of a new round of U. S-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine planned for this week, Zelenskyy said.
Western governments and analysts say the Russia-Ukraine war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, while there is no sign that yearlong U.S.-led peace efforts will stop the fighting any time soon.
“Right now, because of the situation around Iran, there are not yet the necessary signals for a trilateral meeting,” Zelenskyy said. “But as soon as the security situation and the overall political context allow us to resume that trilateral diplomatic work, it will be done.”
Zelenskyy thanked the United States for the return from Russia on Thursday of 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russia's Defense Ministry also said it received the same number of prisoners from Ukraine and thanked the U.S. and United Arab Emirates for mediating.
Prisoner swaps have been one of the few tangible results of the talks. Vladimir Medinsky, a Russian negotiator, said on social media that a total of 500 prisoners from each side would be exchanged between Thursday and Friday.
Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to drag out the negotiations so that he can press on with Russia’s invasion while escaping further U.S. sanctions.
He urged the U.S. administration to look at the Russia-Ukraine war and the war in the Middle East as linked.
“In reality, Russia and Iran are close allies that act in concert — Iran supplies weapons and Russia helps Iran develop its defense industry. These are interconnected conflicts,” Merezhko told The Associated Press.
Ukraine’s army has recently pushed back Russian forces at some points along the roughly 1,250-kilometer (750-mile) front line, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Localized Ukrainian counterattacks liberated more territory than Ukrainian forces lost in the last two weeks of February, the Washington-based think tank said this week, estimating the recovered land at about 257 square kilometers (100 square miles) since Jan. 1.
Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A Ukrainian soldier of the 48th separate brigade launches a reconnaissance drone in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
A Ukrainian soldier of the 48th separate brigade launches a reconnaissance drone in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
