The establishment was begging President Trump to see things their way.

But the swamp got some bad news.

And Donald Trump held one closed-door meeting that put RINOs in panic mode.

Establishment RINOs like Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) pleaded with President Trump to endorse RINO incumbent Texas Senator John Cornyn in his primary runoff race with State Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Cornyn and his establishment allies outspent Paxton $69 million to $4 million, just enough to go into a runoff, 42 to 41 percent.

It looked like Trump was ready to endorse Cornyn.

But then Paxton pulled a master stroke.

Trump said his endorsement depended on the Senate moving the SAVE Act.

Paxton announced he would drop out of the race if Thune and Cornyn forced Democrats to stage a talking filibuster, which would allow Republicans to pass the SAVE Act with just 51 votes.

Thune and Cornyn backed down once Paxton called their bluff, as establishment Republicans secretly agree with Democrats on killing the SAVE Act.

Polls also showed Paxton pulling away from Cornyn.

Now it looks like the prospects of Trump’s endorsement for Cornyn are dead.

The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Senate Leadership Fund Super PAC cut Cornyn loose and stopped spending on the race.

Paxton also traveled to Mar-a-Lago for a productive meeting wth Trump.

POLITICO reported that Paxton “was spotted speaking to Trump himself, according to three people. They were on the patio, one person added. Paxton and Trump discussed the runoff, one of the people said. “It was a positive meeting,” said yet another person. A Paxton spokesperson declined to comment on the meeting. It’s the latest sign of a fierce and feverish effort to keep Trump from endorsing Cornyn.”

Pro-Trump conservatives took a victory lap at the prospect of ousting one of the worst RINOs in the Senate.

“The grassroots stood in the breach and said a resounding ‘NO’ to Cornyn,” Steve Bannon told Playbook. “Polling and spending indicate that the Republican DC establishment reluctantly concurs. This could be the victory that empowers MAGA through the midterms.”

Cornyn said he was running for re-election to pass an amnesty bill.

And a source close to Trump explained that the final nail in the coffin for Cornyn’s re-election prospects was writing Joe Biden’s red flag confiscation bill that funded state laws allowing the government to seize firearms from law-abiding citizens without due process of law.

“The Cornyn endorsement looks dead, but it’s Trump, so it’s never certain,” the source told POLITICO’s Dasha Burns. “Cornyn sealed his fate by carrying Mitch [McConnell]’s water on that ridiculous gun-grabbing bill. No one thought he would be dumb enough to run for reelection after that, but here we are.”

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