Trump-Backed Paxton Wins Texas GOP Primary

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Luke Vargas (0:33)

President Trump's endorsement tips the scales in Texas' GOP Senate primary. Plus, the US races to set up an Ebola quarantine facility for Americans in Kenya, and fears mount in Europe that Vladimir Putin could expand the Ukraine war beyond the country's borders.

Yaroslav Trofimov (0:50)

The Russian calculation is that, as they watch President Trump talking about leaving NATO, they are thinking that if we attack some of his European countries, be it the Baltic States, be it Finland, Sweden, Norway, maybe the US won't react.

Luke Vargas (1:03)

It's Wednesday, May 27th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

We begin in Texas, where Trump-backed state attorney general Ken Paxton has defeated incumbent John Cornyn in a primary runoff to clinch the Republican nomination for US. Senate. At his victory party, Paxton pivoted his focus to his opponent in November's general election, Democrat James Talarico.

Ken Paxton (1:35)

No matter what he says or how much he raises, the reality is that James Talarico is going to be nothing more than a Texas-based puppet for Chuck Schumer and the National Democrats.

Luke Vargas (1:48)

Democrats are hoping that a Talarico victory could help them to reclaim the Senate in what's expected to be the red state's most competitive general election in years. Paxton's chances of winning, meanwhile, could hinge on uniting his party after a bruising primary and amid anger among Senate Republicans that Trump turned his back on Cornyn.

In a pair of redistricting updates, a federal court has barred Alabama from using a congressional map favoring Republicans in special primaries in August, saying it was intentionally discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional. Instead, the court directed the state to reuse the so-called race-blind maps it created for the 2024 congressional election. The state is likely to appeal the ruling. And in a setback for South Carolina's Republican governor, the state's GOP-controlled Senate has rejected a plan to cancel an ongoing congressional primary and hold a later election under new maps drawn to remove a high-profile Democrat stronghold. Governor Henry McMaster had called the legislature back for a special session to redraw the maps after pressure from President Trump and his aides. Early voting in South Carolina's primary election started yesterday.

In global markets news, China has recorded a nearly 25% jump in year-on-year industrial profits for April, with its oil refining sector crawling out of the red on the back of higher crude prices. But pricier energy wasn't China's only industrial tailwind. The country's metal sector has now seen triple-digit profit growth through April thanks to strong global demand for Chinese AI and green energy products. And there's fresh evidence of that in Europe in the form of new car sales data out this morning. Autos reporter Stephen Wilmot says there are two clear themes.

Stephen Wilmot (3:35)

One is that Tesla is bouncing back a bit. It had a very bad 2025 because they were shifting to the new version of the Model Y in their Berlin factory. And also that was kind of when Elon Musk's political affiliation with Trump was at its most toxic, should we say, to the European consumer. So partly because of that rather weak start to 2025, the 2026 numbers are looking a lot better by comparison. That said, the more obvious theme is the growth of Chinese manufacturers. BYD is now bigger than Tesla in Europe, way bigger than Honda and many other brands that will be much more familiar to American consumers. And it's not just BYD, it's also Geely, Cherry, Syke, Leap Motor.

Overall, these brands have about 10% market share year to date in Europe, which is an astonishing number given how they were barely registered just a couple of years ago.

And the reason for this growth is really that they come with a lot of fairly strong features at a reasonable price. These are often EVs and hybrids. So the range that they go between charges is a key feature that consumers look at. And because they have good relationships with Chinese supply chains, the battery industry in China is vast and very competitive. They can offer very good range for a reasonable price.