Midterm live updates: Trump says he’ll accept midterm results ‘if it’s an honest election’

The last time President Donald Trump visited Corpus Christi, he had just issued the final nine-word order to his military officers to launch a sustained military campaign against Iran.

“Operation Epic Fury is approved. No abandonment. Good luck,” Trump said at 3:38 p.m. ET on February 27, as Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine later recounted.

Air Force One landed in Texas twelve minutes later.

It is unclear to what extent the political consequences of the new war weighed on Trump at the time. He spent part of the flight chatting in his conference room with actor Dennis Quaid about his new Ronald Reagan biopic. He will then stop at the Texas restaurant Whataburger, declaring to those around him: “Hamburgers for everyone! »

But exactly eight months later, Trump arrives again in the Texas port city with a deeply unpopular conflict that is weighing on his approval ratings and the fate of Republican candidates across the country. In turn, once-reliable states like Texas have become competitive again.

He was joined on this momentous flight by Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, whom Trump consulted on the situation. However, he did not suggest that he had given the order to begin the bombings.

Stepping off the plane moments after giving the green light, Trump was asked how close he was to making the decision to go to war.

“I prefer not to tell you,” he said. “You would have had the biggest scoop in history, right? And later, during a speech at the port, he repeatedly said he had a “very big decision to make,” even though the decision had already been made.

“I prefer to do it peacefully,” he said of ensuring Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon, “but these are very difficult people.”