Scoop: Loomer’s Bondi Bombshell Tweet Came After Trump’s Air Force One Chat About Texas Shakeup

A Friday afternoon tweet from Laura Loomer may give a closer reading into the MAGA tea leaves than it appeared at first glance, not just because of the right-wing provocateur’s close connections with President Donald Trump, but because of the president’s travel companions that day, a source revealed to Mediaite.

It seems like moments of calm have been few and far between since the president’s second term began in January, but this past week has been an explosively chaotic news cycle even by the standards of this Trumpian era.

On Monday, the Department of Justice released a memo stating there was “no credible evidence” that disgraced financier and convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein had maintained a “client list” to blackmail the rich and powerful men who participated in his sexual abuse and trafficking of young women and underage girls. This news was met by immediate rage and disbelief in MAGA world, crushing the expectations of those who had spent years being inundated with conspiracy-infused accusations from right-wing politicians and media figures, many of whom now hold high positions in the Trump administration.

The fallout from the Epstein files flop has emboldened Trump’s critics and reignited bitter internecine MAGA civil wars — messily playing out on social media and now involving a growing number of reports that Trump is considering finding a sacrificial lamb to fire. Both FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have reportedly threatened to resign if Attorney General Pam Bondi stays, and Loomer is among many who have loudly called for Bondi to take the fall.

On Friday, Loomer, who has ensconced herself so securely in Trump’s orbit that at times she operates almost as his shadow communications director, posted several tweets purporting to have insider info about top level White House discussions over who, if anyone, should be defenestrated to appease the MAGA fury.

Just after 10 am ET, Loomer posted what she called a “SCOOP” calling Patel and Bongino “LIVID” with Bondi (whom she frequently referred to derogatorily as “Blondi”) over the “blowback” they were getting because of DOJ’s “lack of transparency” about the Epstein files, and accused Bondi of bringing “total embarrassment” to the Trump administration.

“Someone needs to be fired for this,” she added. “Giving Blondi courtesy to resign is more than she deserves. Trump should just FIRE her.”

In a follow-up tweet, Loomer wrote that “discussions have been taking place for several months about who could be Blondi’s replacement if she ever was fired or resigned.”

“If Blondi is fired, I’m told [Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis] has been considered/floated for the role of Attorney General by some over the last few months,” wrote Loomer.

The relationship between Trump and DeSantis infamously run hot and cold, but the president did reportedly float the Florida governor’s name for Secretary of Defense when Pete Hegseth’s nomination was mired in his messy scandals. That idea didn’t pan out, but the former primary foes have been increasingly chummy as of late as they cooperate over the controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility in the Everglades and other immigration crackdown efforts.

Loomer had news to dish about another name: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. “There’s also a private push behind the scenes by some GOP donors who want to see [Paxton] as AG, but he has US Senate aspirations,” she wrote.

Over the years, Paxton has been insulated by an astounding level of financial support from West Texas oil billionaires like Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. Those millions of dollars have allowed Paxton to largely evade consequences from` a stunning series of lawsuits, criminal investigations, staff resignations, and even impeachment proceedings stemming from multiple counts of corruption and bribery.

Paxton’s wife, Texas State Sen. Angela Paxton, stood by her husband during all those years (including humiliating testimony during his impeachment hearings about his infidelities) but that all ended Thursday with the shock announcement she was filing for divorce “on biblical grounds” and “in light of recent discoveries.” Local Texas website Current Revolt reported allegations of Paxton being seen “with a woman who was not his wife at a hotel in DFW” (Dallas-Fort Worth) in May, and county court records show Angela Paxton cited “adultery” as the grounds for divorce.

Paxton is currently embroiled in a brutal GOP primary challenging Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). The NRSC already endorsed Cornyn — the organization almost always supports GOP incumbents, although the level of that support wanes for candidates perceived as risky investments — and pounced on the soon-to-be-ex-Mrs. Paxton’s divorce filing.

Thus far, Paxton has stubbornly refused to drop out of the race. He’s continued to post tweets since the divorce news touting his fundraising and attacking Cornyn.

Cornyn isn’t the most rabidly MAGA senator, but he’s savvy enough to mostly avoid ruffling any presidential feathers and it’s long been reported that Trump views him as a trustworthy ally in the Senate. Trump’s base in Texas might prefer Paxton (polls showed him with a double-digit lead in May) but Trump himself won’t mind if Cornyn stays put.

Cornyn, 73, was reportedly seriously considering retirement if Paxton weren’t gunning for his seat. There’s no love lost between Cornyn and Paxton; three separate sources over the past year with knowledge of the Texas political scene have told Mediaite that Texas’ senior senator was running mainly to block Paxton from getting in the Senate.

On Friday, Trump traveled to Kerrville, Texas, the epicenter of the devastating floods over the July 4th holiday, and brought with him a specific group of key Texas politicians. As reported by multiple media outlets and confirmed by photos and videos of the passengers boarding Air Force One and then Marine One, Trump was accompanied by Cornyn, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, and Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX).

Paxton was spotted at the press conference in Kerrville, but he had traveled there separately from elsewhere in Texas and not with the president’s group.

The inclusion of Hunt is especially interesting because his district is part of the northwest Houston suburbs; it contains none of the Texas Hill Country areas hardest hit by the floods. Several reporters noted chatter about Hunt maybe joining the GOP primary against Cornyn — but that’s not the whole story.

Logically, it would make little sense to include Hunt, who’s only halfway through his second term in Congress, to take up a premium seat on Air Force One if he were actually plotting to challenge a fellow passenger and high-ranking Senate Republican. Hunt was in Texas right before this trip and reportedly flew to D.C. just to be able to join this group on Air Force One.

According to a source familiar with the discussions who asked to remain anonymous to avoid political reprisals, one of the goals of Trump’s in-flight confab with these Texas Republicans was to plot how to move the pieces around the Texas political chessboard in a way that would turn down the heat on the White House over the Epstein files, avoid upheaval in a critical Senate race, and find Paxton a place to land.

It’s well known that “John Cornyn refuses to let a scumbag like Ken Paxton sit in Sam Houston’s Senate seat,” the source said, but Paxton wasn’t content to just remain as the Texas AG.

So how to get Paxton out of the way?

The solution, according to the source, was for Trump to get rid of Bondi, Paxton to drop out of the Senate race, Trump to nominate Paxton for AG, Cornyn to announce he was retiring, and Hunt to announce he was running for Senate — in a now-open seat, not challenging an incumbent.

The “GOP donors who want to see [Paxton] as AG” mentioned in Loomer’s tweet are almost certainly the same West Texas billionaires whose oil money has been the lifeblood of Paxton’s political career, the source added.

Dunn and Wilks weren’t on the flight themselves, but they had a close ally in Rollins present. The Secretary of Agriculture has built powerful connections in Texas politics, specifically to these donors and their allies. She served as a top advisor to Texas Gov. Rick Perry and as president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank that has received substantial financial support from Dunn and other top-level Texas GOP donors. After TPPF, she co-founded and served as president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, another think tank funded by Dunn, who serves on the AFPI board as well. (Disclosure: this reporter was previously employed by TPPF while Rollins was president.)

A separate source familiar with Cornyn’s thinking told Mediaite that the president and senator speak often about the race and was skeptical about the chances Paxton could get confirmed by the Senate and that Cornyn would retire if Paxton weren’t running to clear the path for Hunt. The 43-year-old Houston congressman was “certainly looking for an opportunity,” this source said, but expected he would end up “disappointed.”

Hunt is well-liked in Texas GOP circles and viewed as a far safer bet than the scandal-plagued Paxton. A West Point grad and Iraq war veteran, Hunt came within 4 points of taking out a Democratic incumbent in his first congressional race in 2020. After that, Texas legislators “carved out a new district, Texas’ 38th, specifically with him in mind,” reported Houston Public Radio. He easily won in 2022 and sailed to re-election in 2024 with comfortable double-digit margins each time.

Loomer’s tweet saying Paxton was being considered for AG was posted shortly before 2 pm ET; tweets showing Trump and his fellow travelers disembarking from Air Force One were posted less than an hour before then.

The “timelines line up,” the first source pointed out, emphatically stating the belief that “someone clearly told her” what was discussed on the trip from D.C. This source did not know if it was Trump who informed Loomer about the conversation or someone else, but by the time Air Force One landed in the Lone Star State, the game plan was set.

There’s one final breadcrumb that leads to Hunt jumping in the Senate race. Medium Buying, which often shares reports about political ad spending, posted a tweet that Hunt “is placing new ad spending on Newsmax TV in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio cable zones” for July 12 through July 18. That covers an area far outside his congressional district; Dallas and San Antonio are both at least a 3-hour drive away.

That tweet was posted Friday afternoon, a few hours after Hunt the congressional candidate had just been on a plane ride with the people who could make him a Senate candidate instead.

Mediaite reached out to Cornyn and Rollins, who both declined to comment about the senate race. Mediaite also reached out to Cruz, Paxton, and Hunt’s office but did not receive a reply.