Paxton launches primary challenge to Cornyn in Texas with Trump likely looming over the race

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s decision to challenge Sen. John Cornyn sets up what’s likely to be a bitter and expensive Republican primary — and a battle for President Donald Trump’s endorsement – in the nation’s most populous red state. Paxton is positioning himself as a disruptor, pledging in a social media post to “take a sledgehammer to the D.C….

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Potential impact of Trump’s trade war on jobs and inflation sends U.S. consumer sentiment plunging

U.S. consumer sentiment plunged in April, the fourth consecutive month of declines, in a seemingly sharp rebuke of President Donald Trump’s trade wars that have fueled anxiety over possible job losses and rising inflation. The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s closely watched consumer sentiment index, released Friday, fell 11% on a monthly basis…

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Trump reaches deals with 5 law firms, allowing them to avoid prospect of punishing executive orders

President Donald Trump announced deals Friday with five law firms that will allow them to avoid the prospect of a punishing executive order and require them to together provide hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of free legal services for causes his administration supports. The resolutions reflect the Republican president’s continued success in bending prominent…

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