Leaked audio: Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton privately blames Trump's Iran war for dragging down his campaign

Ken Paxton Criticizes Trump in Leaked Audio Ahead of Texas Visit

Yet another leaked recording of Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton has surfaced, capturing him discussing the challenges facing his campaign.

At a donor meeting, Paxton was asked what issues were "dragging" on him and his campaign. According to audio obtained by Axios, he responded:

"It's the war, it's gas prices.... It's over $6 a gallon for diesel. People are feeling that pinch. So I'd say that's probably the biggest problem … food prices, everything else.... That's by far our biggest problem, and I think that's why we're having a hard time with numbers."

When asked how he would respond, Paxton outlined his tax cut plan, the "Protecting the Texas Promise Plan," which he said could be used for expenses ranging from "gym memberships" to "GLP-1s."

He also acknowledged his limited influence over President Trump's war on Iran, the very factor driving the economic issues he cited:

"I have no control over the aspects [of the war]. So many of the factors of this federal race are uncontrollable. I don't make the decisions, I don't know what's behind some of the decisions."

This marks at least the third time Paxton has been recorded sending indirect or direct messages to Trump in recent days:

• One week ago: At a fundraiser, he told someone that Trump's GOP midterm convention in Dallas was negatively affecting his numbers.
• Two days ago: Audio was released of Paxton suggesting his Senate race was being controlled by outside forces in Washington.

Last month, Paxton said:

"I've never been in a race where I felt less control over the campaign and, like, what issues are going to matter because it's all coming—you know—from D.C. I don't control the message or what we're doing.... I don't have ability to change anything. So I have to live with whatever I've got. So it is a challenge."

The repeated leaks from one of the GOP's most important Senate campaigns are striking, particularly as each leak shows Paxton indirectly blaming Trump for low poll numbers and affordability issues he must defend.

Trump Falsely Claims Iran War Ended Before It Began

President Donald Trump falsely claimed Tuesday that his military campaign against Iran ended eight months before he started it.

In what the president presented as a defense against criticism that his so-called "six-week war" has stretched beyond seven months, Trump said:

"We really ended it as soon as the B2 bombers hit, because that was the end of their nuclear [program], that was 95 percent of the reason we did it. Maybe 100 percent."

Trump was referring to a series of strikes using "bunker buster" bombs on three Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025—a full eight months before he ordered attacks in March 2026. Those strikes did not end the war in the Middle East.

The comment is concerning given that Trump administration officials have previously contradicted Trump's claims that Iran's nuclear program posed an imminent threat to national security.

If Trump's initial bombing campaign had satisfied his objectives, the following would likely not have occurred:

• 22 U.S. servicemembers killed
• Hundreds more injured (over 750 reported)
• Department of Defense attempts to cover up casualties
• Multiple U.S. bases in the Middle East destroyed
• Hundreds of Iranian civilians killed, including dozens of school children
• A U.S. battleship deployed for hundreds of days, leading to attempted suicides
• Pentagon spending exceeding $45 billion
• U.S. military weapons stockpiles shrinking to dangerous levels

FBI Under Kash Patel Releases Partisan Video Targeting Michigan Candidate

Kash Patel's FBI slammed Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in a two-minute propaganda video posted Tuesday on social media, in what critics describe as a wildly partisan and likely illegal move.

The supposedly nonpartisan agency's video decried "democratic socialist leaders" for calling to defund the police, featuring footage of:

• Former Vice President Kamala Harris
• Representatives Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, and Ilhan Omar
• Abdul El-Sayed, who is running in November's midterm elections

The video's narration stated: "Not reform. Defund the police as policy. As the path they said would keep you safer. In the cities that led the charge, the street told a different story. What followed was a complete failure."

However, there is little data supporting this claim, and crime rates have been in decline for years.

The video praised Patel's leadership and touted a major increase in violent criminal arrests. Notably, Patel has reportedly instituted a policy of double-counting arrests made by other law enforcement agencies and has faced criticism for his leadership.

Federal law clearly prohibits the use of government funds for campaign purposes, partisan political messaging, and propaganda. The attack ad against a Democratic candidate would appear to violate all three categories.

The Trump administration has recently used at least $5.6 million in taxpayer funds to purchase a series of at least 15 campaign-style advertisements touting the president's agenda ahead of November's midterms. To produce and air those videos, the administration reportedly redirected funds from the Department of Homeland Security, specifically from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Trump Blocks Maryland Governor Wes Moore from Speaking at Event

President Trump is preventing Maryland's Democratic Governor Wes Moore from speaking at an event in Baltimore County on Tuesday.

Defense firm Andruil Industries is announcing a two-million-square-foot submarine manufacturing facility in Sparrows Point, Maryland—a deal that Moore helped arrange and that is expected to create thousands of jobs. Trump is visiting the site and speaking about the investment but is barring Moore from speaking, the governor told The Baltimore Banner.

"That's correct," Moore said to reporters following a debate with his Republican gubernatorial opponent, Dan Cox. "I will not be there later on today. This was going to be a deal that we helped break. This is going to be the largest private investment that we have seen in over a decade inside the state of Maryland."

Moore added: "If the president of the United States wants to bring the circus in town and tell me that I'm not allowed to speak, despite the fact we were the ones that helped bring the deal, then I will let the circus be conducted while I go back to the work of the people of Maryland."

An unnamed White House official told CNN that Moore was "graciously" invited as a guest but did not deny that Trump was blocking him from speaking. The official said:

"It's unfortunate that the Governor is now making a multibillion-dollar announcement about himself by throwing a tantrum over a federal initiative that will bring sorely needed jobs back to his state thanks to President Trump."

Other Maryland Democrats, including Representative Johnny Olszewski Jr., whose district encompasses the new facility, were scheduled to speak but pulled out after learning Moore would not be allowed to make remarks.

Trump has a history of antagonizing Moore, having previously uninvited him from a bipartisan dinner with nearly every other state governor, accused him of electoral fraud, and blamed him for a sewage spill in the Potomac River. Meanwhile, Moore is leading his Trump-supporting Republican opponent, Dan Cox, in polls for November's election.

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