Former President Donald Trump is leaving no stone unturned in Texas as he looks to return to the White House.
Trump is set to follow up his campaign stop in Houston earlier this month with another in South Texas this weekend as his campaign brags about polls showing him beating his GOP rivals in the primary state of March 5.
READ MORE: Trump has touted the Texas oil industry in Houston as he tries to woo donors
On Sunday, Trump plans to join Governor Greg Abbott in Edinburg along the Texas border to serve meals to state troopers and members of the Texas National Guard stationed along the Texas border. Later, he and Abbott will hold a campaign event.
Two weeks ago, Trump was in Houston vowing to protect the state’s oil and gas industry and imploring supporters to vote in the March primary even though he thought he would do well in Texas. Trump warned that they won’t take anything away and need to make sure people get to the polls in Texas.
“I will always take care of your state,” Trump told the crowd in Houston. “Get out and vote and we’ll make America great again.”
There is reason for Trump to be more aggressive in Texas for the primary and the general election.
Limited polls show Trump has a commanding lead in the GOP primary in Texas, but his top rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have both entered the state and raised a lot of money here. Combined, those two have raised $6 million in Texas — more than Trump raised in early October.
Trump said he thinks he’s in “good shape” in Texas but warned he still needs to get his voters out to the polls and not waste the election.
The visit to the Texas border comes at a time when the Biden administration is under intense scrutiny from Congress over a record surge in border clashes along the US border with Mexico. More than 2.4 million migrants are encountered at the border in 2023, a high record number.
Texas was not one of the first four states to vote on the primary schedule. But the state’s March 5 primary provides a potential haul of delegates to the winner that could serve as a knockout blow for Trump against Haley or DeSantis if still in the race.
Trump also has a general election battle on his hands in Texas. While he won the state in 2020, he only got 52% of the vote. The less than 6 percentage point victory for a Republican was the narrowest in a Texas presidential election in 30 years.
