By Damian Paletta

Good morning. President Trump did it again.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton might end up being the most improbable of the GOP primary candidates that Trump has helped lift across the finish line.

Just three years after the Texas House of Representatives impeached Paxton by a vote of 121-23 (the Senate later acquitted him), Paxton won a primary runoff against Sen. John Cornyn on Tuesday night.

Now Paxton will face Democrat James Talarico in a state where it is virtually impossible for Democrats to win a statewide vote. That means Paxton's chances of winning the Senate seat are quite strong, potentially giving the president a vocal supporter and defender that he has long craved.

The flip side of this, though, is that this is the matchup many Democrats had dreamed of. They felt their best shot of taking the seat was a head-to-head with Paxton. So Trump might have moved the seat either to the right or to the left. Either way, it has moved.

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People and Policies I'm Watching

Cabinet meeting: Cabinet secretaries are to meet at the White House.

Trump's Wednesday: After taking part in a cabinet meeting at 11 a.m. ET, the president is to participate in policy meetings at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

What I'm Following

The Middle East cease-fire is holding despite Monday's exchanges of fire. The U.S. is still targeting a lasting deal that leads to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and an agreement on its enriched uranium. Iran at the same time is holding out for sanctions relief and maintaining ground on uranium to stop Washington claiming a victory. Israel, meanwhile, killed Hamas's new military chief days after killing his predecessor.

The U.S. is racing to set up an Ebola quarantine center in Kenya for Americans. It would be for Americans who develop Ebola symptoms or are exposed to the virus amid the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- a departure from past Ebola outbreaks where Americans with the disease were brought to the U.S. for observation and quarantine.

America's back-office jobs are disappearing. Metro Phoenix is America's call-center capital, with some 69,000 customer-service jobs as recently as 2024. But that number is already down by one quarter in just three years -- hurt by offshoring, remote work and, more recently, AI chatbots. Other low-skill cubicle gigs like data entry, insurance-claims administration and mortgage processing are also in decline.

What Else Is Happening

   -- New congressional maps were blocked in Alabama and South Carolina -- 
      Alabama's by a federal court and South Carolina's by its 
      Republican-controlled Senate. 
 
   -- As Europe is starting to think Putin will expand the war beyond Ukraine, 
      the U.S. is substantially scaling back the forces it plans to send to 
      Europe in a crisis under its NATO commitment. 
 
   -- AI-related crimes have taken off as cybercriminals find it makes their 
      job easier, according to the FBI. 
 
   -- What to know about the government's changes to Green Card rules that 
      would force most applicants for permanent residency to leave the country 
      and apply from abroad. 

What I'm Reading

   -- Why Democrats' $8M Supreme Court Push Fell Short (Atlanta 
      Journal-Constitution) 
 
   -- The 'Millionaires Tax' Was Pitched as a $2 billion Revenue Source. It's 
      Blown Past That (Boston Globe) 
 
   -- Elon Musk's Grandiose Media Ambitions Are Now a Real Threat to Some Major 
      Players (Hollywood Reporter) 

About Me

I'm Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal's Washington coverage chief. I've covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor. I've covered the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns.

WSJ Politics brings you an expert guide to what's driving D.C., every weekday morning. Send your feedback to politics@wsj.com (if you're reading this in your inbox, you can just hit reply). This edition was curated and edited in collaboration with Alistair Dawber and Michael Connolly. Got a tip for us? Here's how to submit.

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May 27, 2026 06:57 ET (10:57 GMT)

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