He wasn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump was a winner in Louisiana’s GOP Senate runoff election.

That’s because Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow defeated state Treasurer John Fleming to capture the Republican nomination, The Associated Press reported on Saturday.

Six weeks after denying Trump-targeted GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy a third six-year term in the Senate, a majority of Republican voters in the solidly red Gulf Coast state backed Letlow. Her victory in the runoff is seen as another victory for Trump as he works to fill the halls of Congress with loyal lawmakers for his final two years in the White House. And it’s another sign of the power of a Trump endorsement in Republican primaries.

Five years after he voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, Cassidy was sent packing.

WATCH: CASSIDY DETAILS NEW BEHIND CLOSED DOORS CLASH WITH TRUMP

Letlow, who was backed by Trump even before she entered the race in January, finished first in the primary, double digits ahead of Fleming, with Cassidy in third place. Since no candidate cracked 50% of the vote, Letlow and Fleming advanced to the runoff for the Republican nomination and Cassidy became the first elected Republican senator to lose renomination since Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana in 2012.

Trump, celebrating Cassidy’s defeat, said on social media that «it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!»

Cassidy, in a speech to supporters after conceding, took a jab at Trump, saying, «When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout, you don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen… You don’t manufacture some excuse.»

President Donald Trump stands with Rep. Julia Letlow during the Congressional Ball at the White House Grand Foyer in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11, 2025. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Letlow, who was backed by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a top Trump ally, won her congressional seat in 2021, after her husband, Luke Letlow, died five days before being sworn into the U.S. House after his 2020 election victory for the seat she now holds. She highlighted her support from Trump throughout her Senate campaign.

Fleming, who spent eight years in Congress before serving as a White House deputy chief of staff during Trump’s first term, argued he was the most conservative candidate in the GOP Senate primary.

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Letlow will be considered the clear frontrunner in the midterm election against either farmer Jamie Davis or Navy veteran Gary Crockett, who are facing off in the Democratic Party runoff.

The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past two months, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Kentucky and Texas, as well as the Louisiana primary.

But Trump’s endorsement streak in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped three weeks ago when his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory.

Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump’s Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Zach Lahn raises his fist in celebration after defeating his primary opponent in Iowa’s GOP gubernatorial race on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (Zach Lahn for Governor via Facebook)

The president rebounded three weeks ago in South Carolina, as Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pam Evette finished first in the GOP gubernatorial primary and longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham won a majority of the vote in the Republican Senate primary, and avoided a runoff.

Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who took aim at the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was backed by some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president.

Two weeks ago, Trump-backed candidates won two of the three top races in Georgia and Alabama, with the one setback coming against a billionaire businessman who shelled out over $100 million of his own money to boost his campaign.

Rep. Barry Moore, a House Freedom Caucus member and longtime Trump supporter who was endorsed by the president, comfortably defeated rival Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL sniper who was supported by some top names on the right, in solidly red Alabama’s GOP Senate runoff.

In battleground Georgia’s Republican Senate runoff, an 11th-hour endorsement by Trump helped boost Rep. Mike Collins, a MAGA champion, to victory over former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was backed by popular conservative Gov. Brian Kemp.

TRUMP’S ENDORSEMENT FAILS TO SAVE MAGA CANDIDATE AS BILLIONAIRE ADVANCES IN KEY GOVERNOR RACE

Collins will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in the general election in a race that’s among a handful that will likely decide if the GOP holds its slim majority in the chamber in the midterms.

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But in Georgia’s GOP gubernatorial runoff, the candidate Trump backed, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who was also endorsed by Kemp this past weekend, was defeated by billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, who ran as an outsider.

On Tuesday, Trump-backed first-time candidate Anthony Constantino, a businessman and former boxer, defeated Robert Smullen, a retired Marine Corps colonel and New York Assembly member who had the backing of the state party, in the upstate New York race to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial runoff, Trump couldn’t lose.

That’s because, besides backing Evette, he also gave a last-minute endorsement to state Attorney General Alan Wilson, who ended up winning the showdown in a landslide.

A poco más de 25 kilómetros de Caracas, La Guaira es el epicentro de la tragedia humanitaria, con el colapso de decenas de edificios y miles de desaparecidos tras los terremotos simultáneos. Concentra la mayor cantidad de ayudas tanto de los venezolanos como la extranjera, y terminó por flexibilizar a un estricto régimen.

Es una zona conocida por los caraqueños porque está al otro lado del cerro El Ávila y hay que atravesar la ruta con túneles para llegar a sus bonitas playas. También la conocen los turistas, porque es el mismo camino para ir al principal aeropuerto del país, Maiquetía, que quedó destruido.

A partir del impacto de los dos terremotos el miércoles a la tarde, muchos de sus edificios colapsaron por completo, en un día feriado y con muchas personas en sus casas.

La tragedia es tan grande que se cortaron todos los servicios públicos. Decenas de personas se acercaron a colaborar para rescatar a personas atrapadas, otros fueron a buscar noticias de sus familiares. Pero también hubo saqueos.

Diosdado Cabello, ministro de Relaciones Interiores, Justicia y Paz de Venezuela -quien conserva el cargo tras la captura del dictador Nicolás Maduro por parte de Donald Trump en enero-, fue el encargado de anunciar restricciones en la zona.

Desde las 20 del viernes, remarcó que quienes quieran ir a La Guaira deberán registrarse en el Poliedro de Caracas donde, en caso de caso de ser habilitados, recibirán un QR o un chaleco, en el caso de los motorizados. «Las autoridades estarán tomando las decisiones a lo largo de la ruta, para evitar que personas que no tienen ningún tipo de tarea asignada en La Guaira puedan venir», añadió.

Argumentó que el exceso de personas que iba a colaborar generó problemas de circulación para las ambulancias y saturó las vías de evacuación. Y además, justificó la medida en una cuestión sanitaria.

Tras la comunicación oficial, cuarenta organizaciones no gubernamentales expresaron este sábado su profunda preocupación por la decisión de militarizar el estado La Guaira y exigieron que las operaciones de emergencia se desarrollen con estricto respeto a los derechos humanos.

Pero a la par de las restricciones, otra comunicación oficial sorprendió a los periodistas, en especial a los extranjeros.

El Ministerio de Comunicación e Información abrió una instancia para que la prensa pueda viajar de forma ordenada y autorizada a La Guaira.

«El Ministerio de Comunicación convoca a los profesionales del periodismo al proceso oficial de registro y acreditación para la cobertura informativa integral del sismo registrado el pasado 24 de junio», señala el comunicado.

«La labor de los comunicadores resulta fundamental para garantizar a la ciudadanía el acceso a información veraz, precisa y oportuna. Para facilitar el trabajo de los reporteros, fotógrafos y equipos técnicos, hemos dispuesto un espacio dedicado exclusivamente a la gestión de sus credenciales de acceso a las zonas habilitadas para la prensa y a los balances oficiales de las autoridades», remarcan.

En el punto de acreditación, personal muy amable saluda, le saca fotos a los pasaportes, a las credenciales de prensa. Pregunta el grupo sanguíneo, un teléfono de emergencia de contacto y pide el celular. Después de ese proceso, le colocan una pulsera a cada periodista e informan que habrá dos convoys diarios para ir a La Guaira.

En la conversación, personal del ministerio informó que hasta las 15 del sábado, se habían acreditado 327 periodistas extranjeros y 387 locales. Y ante la consulta de Clarín, aseguraron que se acreditó más prensa extranjera que para las polémicas elecciones presidenciales de 2024.

Para ese entonces, el proceso para obtener una visa de periodista era bastante engorroso. En la semana previa a la elección deportaron a decenas de periodistas que en el aeropuerto dijeron su profesión y señalaron que no tenían visa de periodista.

En enero de este año, unos 500 periodistas extranjeros esperaron durante días la visa de periodista para entrar a Venezuela desde Cúcuta, Colombia, tras la captura de Maduro por parte de Estados Unidos. Jamás respondieron ninguna solicitud.

La tragedia ambiental de La Guaira flexibilizó al régimen. Recibió ayuda de países con los que está enemistado. En los aviones, además de los rescatistas, máquinas, herramientas y personal, también viajaron periodistas. Ninguno tramitó la visa de trabajo para entrar y recibieron su pulsera para ir a La Guaira. Todo un cambio de actitud en el gobierno de Delcy Rodríguez

El sistema se implementó por primera vez el viernes y más de 300 periodistas estuvieron en La Guaira.

An eighth person was charged in connection with a thwarted plot targeting the Freedom 250 Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event at the White House, as a former key lawmaker, ex-FBI agent and current candidate for Senate warned that escalating rhetoric on the left is stoking violence.

«They’re calling people Nazis and anti-American,» former House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Rogers, who is running for Senate in Michigan, told Fox News Digital. «This No Kings notion. People are destroying your government and your way of life. It gives people who are already out there a little bit of permission to take the next step, and they’ve got to control their rhetoric on this.»

Rogers said Democrats are «encouraging» people to move beyond «normal political discourse» and into violent attacks. All eight suspects are accused of conspiring to use explosive-laden drones to trigger a mass evacuation of the June 14 event before directing fleeing crowds toward pre-positioned shooters, with a «second wave» planned to target the White House gate, FBI officials previously told Fox News Digital.

«They are encouraging a lot of people to get worked up to cross that line between what would be normal political discourse into radical, aggressive political behavior, including attempted murder, which you just saw in the UFC fights,» Rogers said.

FBI DISRUPTS ALLEGED EXPLOSIVE-DRONE PLOT TARGETING WHITE HOUSE UFC EVENT, OFFICIALS SAY

Rogers, a former FBI special agent, is running in Michigan’s Republican Senate primary on Aug. 4 for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters.

Rogers said «self-radicalized» individuals are harder to identify, but praised law enforcement for stopping the alleged plot in time.

AMERICAN YOUTH RADICALIZED ONLINE, BUSTED IN SUSPECTED TERROR PLOTS AFTER HATING COUNTRY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

«That self-radicalization can be really dangerous,» he said. «It causes somebody to get in the car, drive, run over somebody or, you know, do some other act of violence.»

According to the Washington state complaint, the suspects allegedly used a Telegram chat to conspire to obtain multiple drones capable of carrying heavy explosive payloads, while federal investigators said they also acquired firearms, ammunition, ballistic gear and other tactical equipment in preparation for the attack.

The plotters allegedly met around March through a TikTok community before moving to encrypted Signal chats, according to the complaint, and later agreed to commit murder on White House grounds and in the surrounding area during the UFC Freedom 250 event, prosecutors said.

RISING ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE, TERROR ATTACKS IN US SPUR HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE HEARING

A woman gathers children as officers respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., March 12, 2026. (Corey Williams/AP Photo)

The alleged plot was eventually foiled with the help of a tip from the mother of one of the suspects.

Pointing to a recent attack on a Michigan synagogue, Rogers said the rhetoric can lead some people to believe political violence is «okay.»

«In Michigan, we had an individual who decided that it was okay to drive a car full of explosives into a synagogue where 130 schoolchildren were being educated and tried to blow himself up,» he said.

In that March attack, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali allegedly crashed his pickup into a West Bloomfield synagogue with more than 100 children inside before officers fatally shot him. Officials previously said the attack came after several of his family members were killed in Lebanon during the country’s war with Israel, and he became radicalized by Iran-backed Hezbollah.

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Rogers said social media has contributed to political violence, saying the violent rhetoric plastered online is «very, very concerning.»

«All of that activity is fed online and through the internet, through conversations and through this heated and wrong-headed violent rhetoric, and their violent terminology is very, very concerning,» he said.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips, Michael Ruiz, David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.