President Donald Trump visited a Denton truck manufacturing plant on Thursday, October 1, 2026, to promote domestic manufacturing and rally support for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Senate bid amid a competitive midterm election season.
Trump Pushes for Ken Paxton at Denton Truck Facility
President Donald Trump used an official White House event to tour a Peterbilt heavy truck plant in Denton on Thursday, blending economic policy arguments with stark electoral politics. Flanked by blue semi-trucks inside the cavernous manufacturing floor, Trump urged North Texas voters to support state Attorney General Ken Paxton in his race for the U.S. Senate.
PACCAR Inc. CEO Preston Feight also spoke to attendees before the president took the podium inside the main campus plant, which was founded in 1939 and operates as the county’s largest manufacturer with roughly 1,800 workers. Rep. Brandon Gill, White House medical team veteran Ronny Jackson, and five-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman, who wore sparkly black pants, Crocs, and a graphic T-shirt featuring his own image. The president additionally recognized University President Harrison Keller, calling him central casting
and a good looking guy,
alongside Texas Woman’s University Chancellor Carine Feyten.
Paxton is running in a tight general election contest against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. Polling has consistently shown Talarico holding an advantage over Paxton, a situation that has unsettled Texas Republicans who have maintained unified control over state offices for decades. The threat to longtime GOP dominance has drawn nearly $175 million in outside ad spending since early September. Texas Democrats last secured a U.S. Senate victory in 1988 and have not won any statewide election since 1994.
Leaked Audio and Public Ribbing Over the Texas Senate Race
The Denton stop arrived just a day after leaked audio from a private fundraiser revealed Paxton complaining that the Republican midterm convention in Dallas had dropped his campaign numbers. Trump, who headlined that September convention, did not let the remark slide during his speech.
Nick Maddux, a senior adviser to Paxton, disputed the reporting surrounding the private audio leak, calling it manipulated nonsense designed to manufacture a nonexistent story.
“He can be a pain in the ass sometimes, I’ll be honest.”
Donald Trump, President
So I don’t know if he’s going to ever speak to me again,
Trump added. I don’t care as long as he wins.
Tariffs, Tar Regulation Rollbacks, and Peterbilt Plant Expansion
Before taking the stage to rally voters, Trump toured the Peterbilt facility alongside company executives and guest Dennis Rodman. Company representatives credited administration tariff policies for fueling an expansion at the plant, which ranks as the county’s largest manufacturer.
The administration pointed to heavy truck tariffs implemented in late 2025 as a catalyst for domestic production, placing a 25% tariff on imported medium and heavy-duty trucks under its America First Trade Policy. Officials noted that parent company Paccar had added thousands of jobs nationwide, including more than 1,000 positions at the Denton location and 2,000 total U.S. jobs. During his address, Trump defended his trade strategy, deregulation agenda, and promises to dismantle restrictive rules on the trucking and manufacturing sectors on day one.
This year the United States has added 60,000 new manufacturing jobs, and heavy truck manufacturing is almost up by about, what, 31 percent, Trump noted
San Antonio Rally and the Broader Red-State Campaign Blitz
Trump is scheduled to travel to San Antonio the following week for a Wednesday rally at the Freeman Coliseum, marking his second Texas campaign stop in consecutive weeks. Organized to turn out core 2024 coalition voters in competitive House districts and key regions, the San Antonio event will feature appearances from Paxton and Republican congressional candidate Carlos De La Cruz, who is running against Bexar County sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia.
Vice President JD Vance has joined the regional push, visiting Harlingen to stump for congressional candidate Eric Flores in the Rio Grande Valley. With national attention locked on the Lone Star State, Republicans are spending heavily to protect turf that has historically remained under uncontested conservative control.
