WATCH: Trump talks energy in Texas ahead of high-profile primary

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump — who has long seemed like he couldn’t choose between friends in Texas’ GOP Senate primary — says he has decided “pretty much” who he will support in the crucial March 3 contest.

Watch Trump’s remarks in the video player above.

But as the showbiz president is wont to do, he left the public — and the candidates themselves — hanging, as he refused on Friday to say who he would actually support. Instead, during his remarks in Corpus Christi, Texas, Trump made sure to acknowledge each of the three Republicans vying for the nomination.

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“We have a great attorney general, Ken Paxton. Where’s Ken? Hello Ken,” Trump said. He continued: “And we have the great Senator John Cornyn. Hello, John.”

Noting that they were in a “little race,” Trump added: “It’s going to be interesting, isn’t it?” They are both great people.”

“Another friend of mine is doing a very good job, Wesley Hunt. Wesley Hunt, what a good job,” Trump said of the third nominee, Rep. Wesley Hunt, after reviewing the long list of lawmakers in attendance in Texas.

During his visit on Friday, which was his first trip outside of Washington since Tuesday’s State of the Union address, Trump repeated highlights from that speech about American economic prosperity and strengthening national security. He bragged about increased oil production and lower gas prices in the Port of Corpus Christi while engaging in side conversations about GLP-1s, mocking Democrats and baseless claims about voting.

Read more: Trump’s portrayal of a “Gilded Age” does not match the way Americans view the economy

Prior to Trump’s visit, Energy Secretary Chris Wright authorized a 12% expansion of LNG exports at Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi terminal — making it the second-largest LNG export project in the United States.

Trump implored the crowd, saying: “We brought the country back. We don’t want to lose the midterm elections. We have to win the midterm elections,” saying that his term in office represented a return to the “golden age” of the United States. “We have to get out. We have to get out, and we have to vote. And we’re going to keep things going even better than they are now, as good as they are.”

With affordability and the economy still top priorities for broader voters, Democrats are exploiting the cost of things like electricity, housing and food to attack Republicans for failing to adequately address voters’ concerns.

“While Donald Trump calls affordability a ‘f-word’ and a ‘hoax’ and spends his time building gilded ballrooms, Texas families are seeing costs rising, health care getting more expensive, and jobs disappearing at one of the highest rates in the country,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said after Trump’s remarks.

Read more: Fact-checking Trump’s State of the Union claims on the economy, immigration and crime

Cornyn is fighting for his fifth term and is challenged by Paxton and Hunt in a primary battle that has become fiercely personal. The three men are trying to highlight their ties to Trump as they intensify their campaign ahead of the vote on Tuesday. Cornyn got the scoop on Friday, when he flew on Air Force One for a trip to Texas and posted multiple photos of his trip on social media.

Trump’s reluctance to publicly wade into the Texas Senate primary reflects the difficult dynamics of the race.

Cornyn is unpopular with a segment of the Texas GOP base, in part because of his early rejection of Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign and his role in imposing stricter gun restrictions after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But the Republican Party leadership in the Senate and groups allied with them see Cornyn as the strongest candidate for the general election, in light of a series of problems that have cast a shadow over Paxton.

Read more: Republican Ken Paxton of Texas is intensifying his Senate bid against Cornyn

Paxton won impeachment on fraud charges in 2023, and has faced allegations of infidelity by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, have urged Trump to endorse Cornyn. They and allied campaign groups argue that the seat would cost the party hundreds of millions more to defend with Paxton as the candidate.

“There is a strong possibility that we cannot hold Texas if John Cornyn is not our nominee,” Scott told Fox News on Wednesday.

Hunt, a second-term Houston area representative, was a late entrant into the race, but claims a kinship with Trump, having endorsed him early in the 2024 race. Hunt has campaigned regularly for Trump and earned a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

If no candidate receives 50% of the votes in Tuesday’s primary elections, the top two finishers will advance to a runoff on May 26.

Cornyn’s campaign and six allied groups have pumped more than $63 million into the race since last fall, mainly trying to slow Paxton, but have recently attacked Hunt in an attempt to prevent him from reaching a runoff.

The veteran senator has been airing ads since last year touting his support for Trump’s agenda, although his relationship with the president has been cool at times. Advertisements for both Paxton and Hunt are now airing showing them standing alongside Trump, who has repeatedly said he likes all three men and is friends with them.

The GOP fight comes as Democrats fight their own primary in Texas between state Rep. James Tallarico, a self-described political expert who regularly quotes the Bible, and progressive favorite U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

Trump has not been shy about wading into other contested Republican primaries in the state. Parts of Corpus Christi fall within Texas’ 34th Congressional District, where former Rep. Mayra Flores is fighting to reclaim her seat against Trump-backed Eric Flores. (The two are not related.) The winner of the primary will face Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, a longtime GOP target whose district was redrawn to make it easier for the Republican to win.

Eric Flores attended Trump’s event on Friday at the Port of Corpus Christi, which is technically located in a neighboring area.

Elsewhere in the state, the president also endorsed Rep. Tony Gonzalez, who is resisting calls from his party to resign from Congress after reports of an alleged affair with a former staffer who later died after setting herself on fire. Gonzalez refuses to step down and said there will be “opportunities for all the details and facts to emerge” and that stories about the situation do not represent “all the facts.”

“Congressman Tony Gonzalez is here,” Trump said, referring to his attendance at his speech in Corpus Christi. “Tony, congratulations.”

It was not clear what Trump was congratulating him on. Gonzalez faces a primary challenge from Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun rights influencer, whom Gonzalez defeated by less than 400 votes in a 2024 runoff.

After the speech, Trump stopped at a local Whataburger restaurant, where he brought food for Air Force One and hinted to the gathered customers that he would buy food for everyone in the restaurant. “Can you handle it? Hamburgers for everyone!” Announce.

Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writer Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.