Trump Congratulates Congressman Facing Calls To Resign After Alleged Ex-Mistress Committed Suicide

AP Photo/Michael Gonzalez

President Donald Trump arrived at the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday, where he gave a bizarre shoutout to embattled Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), who’s under pressure to resign his office.

Trump was in Texas to focus on U.S. energy production and was met by Republican leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX), and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

“Congressman Tony Gonzales is here!” Trump announced from the podium. “Tony, congratulations.”

Trump didn’t specify what he was congratulating Gonzales for.

A growing number of Republicans have called on Gonzales to resign following revelations that he allegedly had an affair with a married staffer, who later killed herself by self-immolation. The lawmakers include Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), and Chip Roy (R-TX).

Earlier this week, Gonzales said he had no plans to resign, stating, “I work every day for the people of Texas.”

“There will be an opportunity for all the details and facts to come out,” Gonzales added. “What you’ve seen is not all the facts. And there will be an ample time for all of that to come out.”

The husband of Regina Ann Santos-Aviles told CNN this week that he has a stockpile of texts from Gonzales “that show how gross of a man he is,” but doesn’t plan to release all of the “salacious” communiques in an attempt to protect his son.

Adrian Aviles said his wife admitted to having an affair with Gonzales in May 2024, but refused to quit her job at his request. In September 2025, Santos-Aviles died the day after she doused herself in gasoline and set herself alight.

24Sight News published alleged texts from Gonzales asking Santos-Aviles to send him a “sexy pic.” Santos-Aviles initially responded, “This is going too far, boss.”

Aviles told CNN’s Erin Burnett, “The man has no values. He runs his whole campaign on family values, and he runs everything saying that he’s some family man. He’s actually quite a sick man.”

Aviles continued, “I have all the messages that’s shared between them two. And the things that – I just released a tip of the iceberg of the things that this man was telling her. I released just what was enough information for the people to understand who this person is and who they’re dealing with.”

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