Trump Vows to Hit 35 Battleground Races Despite Failing Poll Numbers
WASHINGTON-- President Donald Trump is promising an aggressive campaign push for Republican candidates ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections, saying he plans to personally visit as many as 35 competitive races during the final stretch of the campaign.
Speaking Wednesday evening at a White House dinner attended by Republican members of Congress, Trump said he intends to devote the final month of the campaign — and potentially additional time — to helping Republicans in races he considers critical.
“I’m going to take the final 30 days, and maybe a little bit more than that, because it’s all about 35 races,” Trump said. “I’m going to go to every one of those 35 places, and we’re going to see if we can get everyone elected.”
Trump identified several contests where he expects to campaign personally, including the reelection effort of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska.
“I’m going to go up to Alaska for Dan Sullivan,” Trump said, while also poking fun at one of Sullivan’s opponents, a retired teacher who shares the senator’s name.
Trump also said he plans to travel to Texas to campaign for state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is seeking the Republican nomination and ultimately a Senate seat in a race against Democrat James Talarico.
The president's planned appearances could put a national spotlight on a collection of races that Republicans view as important to maintaining their congressional power. Several GOP lawmakers attending Wednesday's White House gathering are themselves facing competitive contests, including Reps. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, Tom Barrett of Michigan and Mike Collins of Georgia.
Trump indicated, however, that he has little interest in spending his time campaigning in races where the Republican candidate already enjoys a commanding advantage.
“If you’re leading by 40 points and you’ve been there for 25 years,” Trump said, “please don’t ask me to come to your area and make a speech, right?”
Instead, his comments suggest that he intends to concentrate his political capital, campaign appearances and attention on races where he believes his involvement could make a meaningful difference.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump similarly sought to draw a distinction between his own political position and the stakes facing Republican candidates. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, he said the midterm elections would not directly determine his own political future because he is not on the ballot.
“I’m not affected by the election,” Trump said. “No. 1, I’m not running. My party’s running, and I’m going to help my party.”
That message comes as Trump has increasingly urged his supporters to view the midterms as an extension of his political agenda. Just two weeks earlier, he told supporters to “pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot” when they cast their votes in November.
The competing messages — that Trump himself is not on the ballot while simultaneously asking voters to treat the election as if he were — underscore the extent to which the president is positioning himself as a central figure in the Republican campaign.
Trump's planned campaign tour also comes as Republican candidates prepare for a costly and closely watched midterm season. His political operation has substantial financial resources available, with MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC, reporting more than $400 million in its war chest in the latest campaign-finance filings.
Republicans running in competitive races are hoping that money, combined with Trump's ability to draw crowds and generate media attention, can provide a significant boost during the final weeks of the campaign.
Trump's decision to focus on 35 contests also reflects the increasingly strategic nature of presidential involvement in midterm elections. Rather than attempting to campaign for every Republican candidate, he has indicated that he wants to concentrate his appearances on the races where Republican candidates face the greatest challenges.
With control of Congress at stake, those contests could become some of the most closely watched races of the 2026 election cycle. Trump's decision to personally enter the fray signals that the president intends to make the midterms a major political priority — even as he maintains that he will not personally be affected by the outcome.
The scale of Trump's planned campaign effort means his presence could become a defining feature of the final weeks of the election, putting his endorsement, rallies and political organization at the center of Republican efforts to hold competitive seats.