Trump's stops in Iowa and Kansas come as GOP fights to keep hold of Congress

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is closing out the final days of a turbulent midterm campaign with rallies in two states he has handily won in the past, underscoring the defensive posture his Republican Party is taking as the elections become a referendum on his White House second term.

His first stop is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Dubuque, Iowa, where Republicans are battling to hold onto a critical Senate seat along with the governor's office. The 2nd Congressional District, which includes Dubuque, has also become competitive as the GOP works to protect its fragile majority in the House.

Trump plans to close out the last weekend of campaigning before Election Day on Tuesday with a visit to Salina, Kansas. Adam Hamilton is mounting a robust bid to become the first Kansas Democrat to win a Senate seat in 94 years.

With more than 52 million votes already cast, the trips mark Trump's return to his trademark rallies after taking a one-day break on Saturday. Republicans initially canceled the Iowa and Kansas stops only for them to be abruptly rescheduled as Trump works to preserve a Senate majority at risk of slipping away.

The travel is a reminder of how starkly the political environment has changed since Trump's last campaign. In 2024, he worked to flip states that had previously backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. This year, Trump has focused largely on states he has dominated before as voters, including previous supporters, question the economic fallout of his decision to impose tariffs and launch the war in Iran.

While those dynamics have helped Democrats in their bid to regain congressional majorities, they face challenges of their own, including holding on to a crucial Senate seat in Michigan. The Democratic nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, is spending the final days of the campaign in an increasingly public feud with one of his primary opponents, Rep. Haley Stevens, that threatens to divide the party heading into the election.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a top supporter of El-Sayed, dismissed concerns that Democrats would fracture.

“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.”

Midterms test Trump's strength in GOP

Still, the campaign's closing stretch has become a test of Trump's enduring strength in a Republican Party he reshaped in his image a decade ago.

The more than two dozen rallies he held in October were designed to energize the most loyal voters to show up for Republicans one more time. But that effort was occasionally overshadowed by Trump's meandering asides and sometimes graphic descriptions of the physique of the male politicians he was supporting.

As fears of steep Republican losses grow, Trump spent Saturday night at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida hosting attending a jungle-themed Halloween party, where he bragged about the wealth of his guests and dismissed concerns about the country's direction.

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

Outgoing Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., raised concerns on Sunday that the president's policies, particularly tariffs, could weigh down the GOP.

“Tariffs are not popular here in the Midwest,” he told CNN's “State of the Union.” “I tried telling the president that.”

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

Sen. 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 Trump's role in the campaign.

“There's no doubt that President Trump has said himself that the midterm election is about him," he told NBC's “Meet the Press.” “His agenda, without any question, is on the ballot.”

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Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.