Trump backtracks on rallies in turbulent end to midterms campaign

• Trump reversed his cancelled rallies in Kansas and Iowa, after questions about his health and energy. He said Republicans still “have a shot” in the midterms.
• Republicans are defending their Senate majority, while Democrats want to win a chamber and slow Trump’s agenda. Trump’s low approval ratings and public anger over costs and war may hurt Republicans.
• Early voting has reached a record 47.9 million. Pope Leo XIV, the first known pope to vote in a political election, mailed his ballot in Chicago, the Vatican said.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Oct 30 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 cancelled 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.

Republicans are defending their 53-47 majority in the Senate in Nov 3’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 centre 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 Oct 29 when he was asked if he was scrapping the Kansas trip because he was “sick of travelling.”

“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.

Pope Leo votes

A record 47.9 million Americans have already voted in the US midterms, with participation surging in key battleground states and registered Democrats outpacing Republicans, figures showed on Oct 30.

The surge is especially pronounced in states with fiercely contested Senate races.

Among the early midterm voters is Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic Church’s first US-born pontiff – the first known time a pope has voted in a political election.

The head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who has clashed with US President Donald Trump, submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago, the Vatican said on Oct 30.

A rift earlier in 2026 between the pope and Trump sparked global headlines.

Trump has urged Republicans to “pretend I’m on the ballot” in the midterms, pointing to his presidential election wins in 2016 and 2024 which largely defied the polls.

He has promised a US$5,000 “dividend” for every American citizen if Republicans keep control of Congress, and stepped up harsh rhetoric against migrants, Muslims and transgender people.

Trump has also repeatedly warned that he will face a third impeachment if Republicans lose, although Democrats may be more likely to focus on the 2028 presidential election.

Democrats, meanwhile, fear Trump won’t accept a Republican loss in the midterms – as he did in the 2020 presidential election – after he recently ramped up claims of voter fraud.

“We had a rigged election in 2020. We cannot ever let that happen again,” Trump said in an interview with the KCMO radio station in Kansas City. AFP