<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">President Trump endorsed Representative Andy Barr in the Republican Senate primary race in Kentucky on Friday, moving to clear the field by inviting an Elon Musk-backed contender to join his administration.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Nate Morris, the candidate supported by Mr. Musk, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.facebook.com/nate.morris/posts/pfbid0YPxwFbwEnMFN9Jcgs7xXwpDddd1Lni6xG7AuM2wk1HjAAF8q8vpaPWfj4GSPHDbul" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">said he would leave</a> the campaign, which until Friday had been a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/kentucky-us-senate-election-polls-2026.html" title="">hotly contested three-way</a> primary race to replace Senator Mitch McConnell, a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/us/politics/mitch-mcconnell-retire.html" title="">longtime pillar of the Republican establishment</a> who is set to retire at the end of the year.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Morris made his announcement shortly after Mr. Trump said on <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://trumpstruth.org/statuses/38115" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">Truth Social</a> that he had had a “great meeting” with Mr. Morris a day earlier and “asked” him to leave the race. The president said that he planned to appoint Mr. Morris as a U.S. ambassador.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Morris’s departure narrowed the race in the deep-red state to two contenders: Mr. Barr and Daniel Cameron, a former Kentucky attorney general.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Trump <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116501798869145857" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">wrote on</a> social media that Mr. Barr would “fight tirelessly to Grow our Economy” and to “Champion the Interests of our Amazing Farmers and Ranchers.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Barr said in a statement that he had been with Mr. Trump “all the way” and would “stand with President Trump 100 percent to deliver for Kentucky and to keep Making America Great Again.”</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Scott Jennings, a CNN analyst and Republican strategist in Kentucky, said the president’s move would leave Mr. Cameron with little hope in the primary, predicting that Mr. Barr would win comfortably. “It will be definitive,” Mr. Jennings said.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Cameron’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. Trump’s endorsement of Mr. Barr, which came less than three weeks <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/us/elections/2026-election-calendar.html" title="">before the May 19 primary</a>.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="ImageBlock-3"><div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure aria-label="media" class="img-sz-medium css-d754w4 e1g7ppur0" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Image</span><div class="css-nwd8t8" data-testid="lazy-image"><div data-testid="lazyimage-container" style="height:257.77777777777777px"></div></div></div><figcaption class="css-gbc9ki ewdxa0s0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Nate Morris withdrew from the race for the Senate from Kentucky on Friday after President Trump announced that he planned to appoint Mr. Morris as a U.S. ambassador.</span><span class="css-iwa86d e1z0qqy90"><span class="kyt-mdd4r">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Daniel Cole/Reuters</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-2"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Morris, the wealthy founder of a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/business/dividing-and-conquering-the-trash.html" title="">waste management company</a> and a friend of Vice President JD Vance, has deep ties in Mr. Trump’s orbit. Last year, Mr. Morris <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/us/politics/nate-morris-kentucky-senate.html" title="">announced his candidacy</a> on a podcast hosted by Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son. And Mr. Musk <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/us/politics/elon-musk-nate-morris-kentucky-senate-mitch-mcconnell.html" title="">donated $10 million</a> to a group supporting Mr. Morris’s campaign.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-5"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-3"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">The group backing Mr. Morris spent all of that money and then some, financing a nearly $15 million paid media campaign — and it appeared to make little difference. The group did not report any independent expenditures in a month, and it entered April with just $120,000 on hand. Some supporters of Mr. Musk and Mr. Morris acknowledged in recent weeks that the push did not work, according to two people with knowledge of their reaction, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Mr. Morris quickly joined Mr. Trump in his endorsement, writing on <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://x.com/natemorris/status/2050357468329398785?s=46" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">social media</a> that it was “time for all Kentuckians to rally behind our next Senator, Andy Barr!”</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div>