Trump boosts Republican fight to keep senate and house control in mid-terms

Donald Trump has criss-crossed America since October 1 to boost the Republican campaign (AP)

US president Donald Trump has closed out the final weekend of a turbulent mid-term election campaign, with rallies in two states he has won comfortably in the past.

With polling due to take place on Tuesday, Mr Trump appeared in Salina, Kansas, and Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday.

Republicans in both states are fending off robust challenges from Democrats, threatening the party’s majorities in the senate as well as the house of representatives.

In Iowa, Mr Trump insisted Republicans are on the verge of sweeping victories on Election Day.

“We’re going to elect ‘America first’ Republicans up and down the line,” he said near the start of a speech that lasted two hours – long even for Mr Trump, who is known for his lengthy, free-wheeling rally appearances.

The US leader was late arriving in Kansas, where Air Force One performed a theatrical flyover before landing for an outdoor airport rally.

Hundreds of people started leaving midway through his nearly 90-minute speech in rural central Kansas, which did not end until nearly 10pm local time.

“This is our last stop. We’re closing it down tonight,” Mr Trump said. He has criss-crossed America since October 1, holding more than two dozen rallies in 19 states to boost the Republicans.

He is scheduled to give his closing pitch of the mid-term elections in Washington at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday.

With more than 54 million votes already cast, the trips reflect the Republicans’ defensive posture as the elections become a referendum on Mr Trump’s second term at the White House.

They are a reminder of how starkly the political environment has changed since Mr Trump’s last campaign.

In 2024, he worked to flip states that had previously backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.

This year, Mr Trump has focused largely on states he has dominated before as voters, including previous supporters, questioned the economic fallout of his decision to impose tariffs and launch the war in Iran.

But Democrats who have become increasingly bullish on their prospects are confronting challenges of their own.

In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s onetime opponent in the senate primary, Haley Stevens, appeared with Republican Mike Rogers at a church service and later endorsed his campaign.

Ms Stevens, a congresswoman who has criticised Mr El-Sayed as being insufficiently supportive of Israel, said she backed Mr Rogers after an invitation to a Democratic event was rescinded.

“Our Democratic nominee for senate said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Ms Stevens said in a video announcing the endorsement. “And he’s right. And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States senate today.”

The stunning move forced other Democrats to reiterate their support for Mr El-Sayed. Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the US senate, said the party was “united in our support”. US senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who leads the Democratic senatorial campaign committee, said the party would “stand firmly” behind Mr El-Sayed and “reject any efforts to divide Democrats”.

Earlier, US senator Bernie Sanders, a top supporter of Mr El-Sayed, dismissed concerns about a Democratic divide.

“Haley Stevens lost a very, very close primary. I can understand being upset about that,” the Vermont independent said on CBS’ Face The Nation.

“But from what I can see, all over the state, people are standing up, they’re gonna stand with Abdul.”

Michigan plays a key role in the Democratic effort to retake control of the US senate. If they do not keep that seat, they would face additional pressure to win races in deeper Republican territory such as Texas, Kansas, Ohio or Iowa.

Mr Trump is betting that he can overcome the headwinds facing Republicans this year by relentlessly appearing before his most loyal supporters. But the more than two dozen rallies he held in October were occasionally overshadowed by Mr Trump’s meandering asides and sometimes graphic descriptions of the physique of the male politicians he was supporting.

The US president paused the rallies on Saturday to spend the evening at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida at a jungle-themed Halloween party, where he bragged about the wealth of his guests and dismissed concerns about the country’s direction.

“The country has never done better,” he said.

Outgoing representative Don Bacon raised concerns on Sunday that the president’s policies, particularly tariffs, could weigh down the Republican campaign.

“Tariffs are not popular here in the Midwest,” he told CNN’s State Of The Union.

“I tried telling the president that.”

Mr Bacon predicted “there will be a debate in the party” about its future if there are significant losses this week.

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina was more optimistic. The chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said he was confident Republicans would keep the senate and embraced Mr Trump’s role in the campaign.

“There’s no doubt that President Trump has said himself that the mid-term election is about him,” he told NBC’s Meet The Press.

“His agenda, without any question, is on the ballot.”