
Red state map battle heats up as Trump pushes Texas plan to reshape congressional districts
The GOP-controlled state legislature in Texas meets in special session starting Monday, and one of the key items on their agenda is the push by Republicans in the red state to redraw the current congressional maps to reduce the number of districts controlled by already marginalized Democrats.
It's part of a broader effort by the GOP across the country to keep control of the chamber, and cushion losses elsewhere in the country, as the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.
And President Donald Trump is aiming to prevent what happened during his first term, when Democrats stormed back to grab the House majority in the 2018 midterms.
"Texas will be the biggest one," the president told reporters last week, as he predicted the number of GOP-friendly seats that could be added through redistricting in the Lone Star State. "Just a simple redrawing, we pick up five seats."
Hours earlier, Trump held a call with Texas' Republican congressional delegation and sources confirmed to Fox News that the president told the lawmakers that he was aiming to redraw the maps to create five new winnable seats.
Democrats control just 12 of the state's 38 congressional districts, with a blue-leaning seat vacant after the death in March of Rep. Sylvester Turner.
The idea is to relocate Democratic voters from competitive seats into nearby GOP-leaning districts, and move Republican voters into neighboring districts the Democrats currently control.
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both conservative Republicans and Trump allies, said they needed to redistrict because of constitutional concerns raised by the Justice Department over a handful of minority-dominated districts.
But the move is potentially risky.
"There is some risk of making safe Republican seats more competitive, and I think that the incumbents are certainly worried about that," veteran Texas-based Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser told Fox News. "If you talk to Republican members of Congress, they're going to be worried about their own seats. They don't want to be in a seat that's more competitive."
Steinhauser noted "that's the tradeoff for Republicans, if you want to grow the majority."
But he added that "the people drawing the maps… they don't want to make any seat too competitive because that will defeat the purpose."
Redistricting typically takes place at the start of each decade, based on the latest U.S. Census data. Mid-decade redistricting is uncommon – but not without precedent.
Democrats are slamming Trump and Texas Republicans for what they describe as a power grab, and vowing to take legal action to prevent any shift in the current congressional maps.
"Democrats are going to push back aggressively because it's the right thing to do," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters last week.
Democrats in blue-dominated states are now considering similar tactics.
"Two can play this game," California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on social media last week.
The next day, after a meeting, Democrats in California's congressional delegation said they were on board with an ambitious plan to try and gain at least five seats through redistricting. Democrats currently control 43 of the Golden State's 52 congressional districts.
But it won't be easy to enact the change, because in California, congressional maps are drawn by an independent commission that is not supposed to let partisanship influence their work.
Newsom this week suggested that the state's Democratic-controlled legislature move forward with a mid-decade redrawing of the maps, arguing that it might not be forbidden by the 17-year-old ballot initiative that created the independent commission.
The governor also proposed quickly holding a special election to repeal the commission ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Both plans are considered long shots, as they would face plenty of legislative, legal and financial hurdles.
Democrats are also hoping to alter congressional maps in battleground Wisconsin, but the new liberal majority on the state Supreme Court recently declined to hear the case. Democrats and their allies are now in the midst of a second legal push for redistricting in Wisconsin.
Democrats have also filed redistricting litigation in Utah and Florida, which are both red states.
Meanwhile, Ohio is required by law to redistrict this year, and a redrawing of the maps in the red-leaning state could provide the GOP with up to three more congressional seats.
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CNN
28 minutes ago
- CNN
Thai-Cambodia border clashes continue despite Trump's announcement of ceasefire talks
Cambodia and Thailand exchanged fire across their disputed border for a fourth day on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump announced the two Southeast Asian nations had agreed to ceasefire talks. At least 32 people have been killed and at least 200,000 displaced since Thursday, according to Thai and Cambodian officials, in clashes that have rumbled on despite calls from the United Nations, United States and China for the fighting to stop. Both sides have accused the other of starting the latest border flare-up, and traded blame for the ongoing fighting. But hours after Trump's announcement, Thailand's government on Sunday said it was 'not ready' to stop military operations and accused Cambodia of continuing to fire heavy artillery at civilian areas in its Surin province, on the border, and several other areas. 'Any cessation of hostilities cannot be reached' while Cambodia is 'repeatedly violating the basic principles of human rights and humanitarian law,' Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Thailand hit several locations in Cambodia with drones, tank fire, cluster and aerial bombs early Sunday morning local time, a spokesperson for Cambodia's defense ministry told reporters. Some of the firing landed near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World heritage site in Cambodia's northern Preah Vihear province, according to Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata. The temple complex has been at the center of previous clashes between the two nations. Cambodia slammed what it said were Thailand's 'deliberate and premeditated acts of aggression.' Those acts 'have occurred despite ongoing efforts led by President Donald Trump to seek a ceasefire, efforts that have been publicly and clearly supported by Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia,' Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said. 'Our forces are still striking back actively and are not afraid to protect the territory,' Maly Socheata said. The state-run National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT) reported that Cambodian forces had fired artillery into the Thai border province of Surin, west of Preah Vihear, damaging residential homes. Thai forces were responding, it reported. Thailand on Sunday said 19 people have been killed since hostilities began, mostly civilians. There are more than 138,000 from six provinces displaced and staying in government shelters, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Cambodia said Saturday that in Oddar Meanchey province, which borders Thailand's Surin, 13 people had been killed, including eight civilians, and 50 wounded. At least 80,000 people in Cambodia have been displaced by the fighting, according to the defense ministry. President Trump said Saturday that he had spoken with both Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and acting prime minister of Thailand Phumtham Wechayachai in his efforts to restore peace. 'They have agreed to immediately meet and quickly work out a Ceasefire and, ultimately, PEACE!' Trump wrote on Truth Social in a series of posts on outlining his diplomatic efforts, but offering no details on the negotiations. Trump said he had warned Hun Manet and Phumtham that he would not make trade deals with either country if the deadly border conflict continued. 'They are also looking to get back to the 'Trading Table' with the United States, which we think is inappropriate to do until such time as the fighting STOPS,' Trump wrote. Earlier this month, Trump wrote letters to Thailand and Cambodia threatening a 36% tariff on most of their exports to the US, starting August 1. Cambodia and Thailand both delivered substantial offers to their US counterparts in an effort to move to the front of the line for a trade agreement, officials said at the time. In the early hours of Sunday morning local time, Hun Manet thanked Trump and said that Cambodia agreed with 'the proposal for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between the two armed forces.' It added that he had previously agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. A statement from Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was more measured, saying it wished to see 'sincere intention from the Cambodian side' – but that Phumtham had also 'requested President Trump to convey …that Thailand wants to convene a bilateral dialogue as soon as possible to bring forth measures and procedures for the ceasefire and the eventual peaceful resolution of the conflict.' Bangkok and Phnom Penh have been fighting over territory disputed since colonial power France drew the border between them more than a century ago. The renewed deadly conflict pits longtime US ally Thailand, with decades of experience, against Cambodia's relatively young armed force with close ties to China. The United Nations has condemned the violence, with Secretary General António Guterres urging in a post on X for 'both sides to immediately agree to a ceasefire and to address any issues through dialogue.'


CNBC
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CNN
28 minutes ago
- CNN
Thai-Cambodia border clashes continue despite Trump's announcement of ceasefire talks
Cambodia and Thailand exchanged fire across their disputed border for a fourth day on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump announced the two Southeast Asian nations had agreed to ceasefire talks. At least 32 people have been killed and at least 200,000 displaced since Thursday, according to Thai and Cambodian officials, in clashes that have rumbled on despite calls from the United Nations, United States and China for the fighting to stop. Both sides have accused the other of starting the latest border flare-up, and traded blame for the ongoing fighting. But hours after Trump's announcement, Thailand's government on Sunday said it was 'not ready' to stop military operations and accused Cambodia of continuing to fire heavy artillery at civilian areas in its Surin province, on the border, and several other areas. 'Any cessation of hostilities cannot be reached' while Cambodia is 'repeatedly violating the basic principles of human rights and humanitarian law,' Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Thailand hit several locations in Cambodia with drones, tank fire, cluster and aerial bombs early Sunday morning local time, a spokesperson for Cambodia's defense ministry told reporters. Some of the firing landed near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World heritage site in Cambodia's northern Preah Vihear province, according to Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata. The temple complex has been at the center of previous clashes between the two nations. Cambodia slammed what it said were Thailand's 'deliberate and premeditated acts of aggression.' Those acts 'have occurred despite ongoing efforts led by President Donald Trump to seek a ceasefire, efforts that have been publicly and clearly supported by Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia,' Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata said. 'Our forces are still striking back actively and are not afraid to protect the territory,' Maly Socheata said. The state-run National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT) reported that Cambodian forces had fired artillery into the Thai border province of Surin, west of Preah Vihear, damaging residential homes. Thai forces were responding, it reported. Thailand on Sunday said 19 people have been killed since hostilities began, mostly civilians. There are more than 138,000 from six provinces displaced and staying in government shelters, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Cambodia said Saturday that in Oddar Meanchey province, which borders Thailand's Surin, 13 people had been killed, including eight civilians, and 50 wounded. At least 80,000 people in Cambodia have been displaced by the fighting, according to the defense ministry. President Trump said Saturday that he had spoken with both Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and acting prime minister of Thailand Phumtham Wechayachai in his efforts to restore peace. 'They have agreed to immediately meet and quickly work out a Ceasefire and, ultimately, PEACE!' Trump wrote on Truth Social in a series of posts on outlining his diplomatic efforts, but offering no details on the negotiations. Trump said he had warned Hun Manet and Phumtham that he would not make trade deals with either country if the deadly border conflict continued. 'They are also looking to get back to the 'Trading Table' with the United States, which we think is inappropriate to do until such time as the fighting STOPS,' Trump wrote. Earlier this month, Trump wrote letters to Thailand and Cambodia threatening a 36% tariff on most of their exports to the US, starting August 1. Cambodia and Thailand both delivered substantial offers to their US counterparts in an effort to move to the front of the line for a trade agreement, officials said at the time. In the early hours of Sunday morning local time, Hun Manet thanked Trump and said that Cambodia agreed with 'the proposal for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire between the two armed forces.' It added that he had previously agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. A statement from Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was more measured, saying it wished to see 'sincere intention from the Cambodian side' – but that Phumtham had also 'requested President Trump to convey …that Thailand wants to convene a bilateral dialogue as soon as possible to bring forth measures and procedures for the ceasefire and the eventual peaceful resolution of the conflict.' Bangkok and Phnom Penh have been fighting over territory disputed since colonial power France drew the border between them more than a century ago. The renewed deadly conflict pits longtime US ally Thailand, with decades of experience, against Cambodia's relatively young armed force with close ties to China. The United Nations has condemned the violence, with Secretary General António Guterres urging in a post on X for 'both sides to immediately agree to a ceasefire and to address any issues through dialogue.'