US midterm elections: Trump ends campaign, calls Democrats ‘most dangerous ever’

US President Donald Trump ended the midterm campaign season on Monday by calling the Democratic Party’s candidates the “most extreme and dangerous” in American history, the day before voters decide which party controls Congress.

Speaking at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, which reopened after a renovation by his administration, Trump called the elections “the most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime”.

“These are the most dangerous candidates ever put up,” he said.

Rather than travel to a battleground state, the president was also scheduled to take part in at least seven tele-rallies for Republican candidates on Monday, while Vice-President J.D. Vance campaigned in New York and Ohio.

In his speech on Monday, Trump accused Democrats of supporting open borders, higher taxes, gun restrictions and gender transition treatment for children.

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He singled out Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Michigan, describing him as a “jihadist”. The president cited a recent report that El-Sayed had campaigned at a mosque where a speaker called the United States the “House of Satan”.

The report, published by the conservative outlet The Daily Wire, said El-Sayed had appeared at the Islamic Centre of Detroit in March while campaigning in the Democratic primary. It said a speaker at the centre had used the phrase during a 2025 talk.

El-Sayed has denied that he or his family have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

El-Sayed is also contending with a split in his own party after Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens, whom he defeated in the primary, endorsed his Republican opponent Mike Rogers on Sunday.

“If we’re nervous about where we’re going to go from here, go vote,” El-Sayed told supporters on Monday, according to the Associated Press.

“Remember, a party that hates America cannot be allowed to rule over the people who built our country,” Trump said.

The president also accused Democrats in Alaska of “corrupt” conduct over a second candidate named Dan Sullivan appearing on the ballot against the Republican incumbent of the same name.

The New York Times reported last week that the campaign of Democratic candidate Mary Peltola had been involved in recruiting the second Sullivan. Peltola has denied any involvement.

Trump acknowledged that the sitting president’s party usually loses seats in midterm elections. He said Republicans would “win in a landslide” if his supporters from the 2024 election turned out.

He also promised that every adult would receive US$5,000 if Republicans won, on condition that the money was spent in the United States. He did not say how he would fund the payments.

Democrats have sought to focus their campaigns on the high cost of living, an issue voters have consistently ranked among their top concerns, according to opinion polls.

Much of the 50-minute event focused on the reflecting pool. The president joked about renaming it the “Trump Reflecting Pool” and said his administration had fixed long-standing leaks and resurfaced the basin.

Trump again blamed vandals for damage to the new surface, which began peeling after the pool was refilled in the summer. The US Justice Department charged former Olympian David Hearn with damaging the pool but later dropped the case.