Trump reinstates rallies in turbulent end to midterm campaign

President Donald Trump Friday insisted Republicans “have a shot” at success in the US midterms despite a feverish end to the campaign for elections that will decide control of Congress.

Trump reversed course and reinstated two rallies in Kansas and Iowa a day after cancelling them, a move which had raised questions about his health and about the state of the race.

“Typically, a president, whether he’s good or bad, Republican or Democrat, loses the midterms,” Trump told reporters as he hosted Stephen Hubbard, a US detainee recently freed by Russia, in the Oval Office.

“I think we have a shot at doing well. Maybe very well, but you know, pretty well.”

Trump said that he had canceled the two events to hold virtual rallies but that Republicans in Iowa and Kansas called “and they said if you could go, it would be better than a tele-rally.”

But the 80-year-old’s comments were far from a robust assessment of Republican chances in the Nov 3 vote.

‘I feel perfect’

Republicans are defending their 53-47 majority in the Senate in Tuesday’s elections, while Democrats are seeking to capture at least one chamber of Congress and curb Trump’s legislative agenda during his final two years in office.

Trump has put himself at the center of the Republicans’ midterm strategy, hoping it will fire up his MAGA (Make America Great Again) base.

But his Trump’s dismal approval ratings and public anger over the Iran war and the cost of living may be a drag on Republican chances.

Trump, who complained of losing his voice earlier this week, had lashed out on Thursday when he was asked if he was scrapping the Kansas trip because he was “sick of traveling”.

“I feel perfect,” Trump snapped, saying he no longer needed to visit Kansas because Republican Senator Roger Marshall was “doing very well”.

But Trump’s about-face was likely the result of the questions over the energy levels of America’s oldest-ever elected president, political strategist Mike Fahey told AFP.

“My suspicion is that Trump didn’t particularly like that narrative, and putting the events back on the calendar was the fastest way to kill it,” said Fahey, a veteran of multiple election campaigns.

Both Kansas and Iowa voted comfortably for Trump in 2024, but have emerged as unexpected battlegrounds for Republicans.

Marshall faces a competitive challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton in Kansas, which has not elected a Democratic senator since 1932. In Iowa, Republican congresswoman Ashley Hinson is fighting a close race against Democrat Josh Turek.

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