The Texas attorney general has been silent about his relationship with Tracy Duhon, a New Orleans woman who has built a personal brand around faith and redemption.

© Doug Mills/The New York Times; Frederick Breedon/Getty Images for Pure Flix

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday plan to show off a newly arrived oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude to be processed in Texas refineries.

Trump was in Corpus Christi and Lubbock to boost Republican Ken Paxton's competitive U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico.

Dr. Jennifer Shuford, a respected former Texas health official, had been appointed by President Trump to help steady the agency.

© Melissa Golden for The New York Times

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Speaking to reporters on the tarmac before departing for a campaign event in Michigan, JD Vance responded to a question about President Trump’s remarks branding Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as a “jihadist.”

Vance, who has sparred with the progressive El-Sayed repeatedly on the campaign trail, took a somewhat softer tone. But he didn’t walk away from Trump’s remarks.

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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP