Trump attacks fellow Republicans for 'hurting Texas' during senate election race – US politics live

Key events 24m ago Trump blames Republicans for Ken Paxton struggling in Texas senate election Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. Donald Trump has accused fellow Republicans of "doing everything possible to make it hard" for Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee in the Texas Senate race. In a post on Truth Social, Trump lambasted incumbent senator John Cornyn and political strategist Karl Rove, claiming that they were "sadly, and very stupidly" working against Paxton due to personal jealousy towards him, and accused the pair of "hurting Texas and, more importantly, hurting the United States of America!" He added: "If Ken Paxton loses, it will be because of WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Political Hacks like John Cornyn and Karl Rove, who have ineffectively opposed me for my entire political career." Despite Texas being seen a Republican safe seat by many in the party, polls show the Democratic nominee James Talarico having a slight lead on Paxton, who has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. A loss for Paxton would be seen as a major blow for Trump and the GOP, and would be the first time that a Republican hadn't won a senate election in Texas since 1988. In other developments: Katie Zacharia, the White House's new press secretary, has stated that it is "unknown" how much she will engage with the press or hold briefings with reporters, as questions about her legal credentials continue to be asked following revelations that she failed to pass the California bar exam after graduating from law school. Donald Trump has labeled a series of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries as a "disgrace" while describing the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as "more difficult to deal with than Putin".