President Donald Trump closed out his midterm campaign push Sunday night with final rallies in Iowa and Kansas, even as a grim poll showed Republican candidates trailing in all seven of the Senate’s key battleground races.
Trump had hoped that a schedule featuring 30 rallies and a surge of energy from his MAGA base would help avert a Democratic wave capable of erasing Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.
But a late New York Times/Siena poll found Democrats leading in each of the seven competitive Senate contests, including the two states Trump visited on Sunday.
In Dubuque, Iowa, the President spent more than two hours onstage campaigning for Republican Senate candidate and Representative Ashley Hinson.
As he has at previous events, Trump commented on the 43-year-old candidate’s weight and appearance.
“I’ve known Ashley for a long time, and she was a little bit heavier, OK? She was,” Trump told the crowd. “And she went out—the old-fashioned way, too, not with the, you know, give me a shot.”
A protester interrupted him as he spoke.
“They always do it right in the middle of my punchline!” Trump complained.
President Donald Trump arrives at his final campaign rally of the 2026 midterms Sunday night in Salina, Kansas
President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally in Salina, Kansas, with the Qatari-gifted Air Force One parked behind him and an Elvis-Trump mash-up playing on the rally’s jumbotrons
He then returned to his comments about Hinson’s weight.
“She was great the other way, but she put herself in shape,” Trump said. “And she did that for you,” he added, offering Hinson a strong endorsement.
Trump also addressed the day’s biggest political development in Iowa: Michigan Democratic Representative Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
Stevens and El-Sayed had clashed over Israel, leading to Sunday’s dramatic reversal. Stevens was subsequently expelled from Michigan’s Democratic Party.
“It was just an incredible thing. She went out and endorsed Mike Rogers. And Mike Rogers is doing well. He’s apple pie. Mike Rogers is apple pie,” Trump said.
Trump added that he would like Stevens to join the Republican Party.
Because Stevens had previously run against El-Sayed in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary, many Democrats interpreted her endorsement of Rogers as a response driven by resentment.
Trump mentioned El-Sayed repeatedly at both rallies, once again saying the Senate would need a “metal detector” if the Muslim Democrat won the election.
An attendee at President Donald Trump’s Dubuque, Iowa, rally wore a T-shirt reading, “I love ICE raids”
President Donald Trump gestures while discussing the “weave” during his Dubuque, Iowa, rally, where his speech lasted more than two hours
President Donald Trump gestures toward supporters Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa, the site of his first final midterm campaign rally
“We’re not going to let the jihadists, the communists, whoever the hell we’ve got—I shouldn’t use the word. Should I use it or not?” Trump asked the Dubuque audience. He then described the candidates he was criticizing as “more crap running for office.”
“We’re not going to stand for it,” he added.
The Sunday double-header was announced Friday, after Trump had canceled both rallies less than 24 hours earlier.
The White House restored the events to his schedule after Trump angrily confronted a Reuters reporter who asked Thursday whether he was becoming “sick” of the travel.
Trump sought to demonstrate that the travel had not worn him down. In Iowa, he spoke for more than two hours, coming close to breaking his own record for a rally speech.
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“This isn’t rambling. This isn’t rambling. This is genius,” Trump told the crowd after speaking for one hour and 17 minutes.
He spoke for one hour and 24 minutes in Salina, Kansas, after an Air Force One flyover energized the crowd.
“I could have been home watching television or some crappy thing,” Trump joked from the stage.
Kansas Senator Roger Marshall watches President Donald Trump speak at his final campaign rally in Salina, Kansas
President Donald Trump (right) brings Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) onstage during his final midterm campaign rally in Salina, Kansas
Trump said he had made the trip to Kansas to rally once more for Senator Roger Marshall, who is facing a difficult reelection contest against Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton.
“We’re shutting it down tonight, can you believe it? I wanted to make you the last—but the best,” Trump told supporters.
“I did not want to interrupt your football game, but maybe I should have,” he added.
The Kansas City Chiefs had lost to the Chicago Bears earlier that afternoon.
“That was a nasty ending, wasn’t it?” Trump said.
During the remaining hour, Trump attacked several familiar Democratic targets, including El-Sayed and Representative Ilhan Omar.
He again promised that Americans would receive $5,000 checks if Republicans won the midterm elections.
Trump also invited Secretary of State Marco Rubio onto the stage.
“He’s getting a little too popular; I’m not happy about this,” Trump said. “I don’t like it. I don’t like it. If he gets any more popular, I’m going to have to say, ‘You’re fired.’”
At the close of the rally, Trump danced energetically to “YMCA,” adding a motion resembling a golf swing.
President Donald Trump (left) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (right) embrace onstage at the President’s rally Sunday afternoon in Dubuque, Iowa, where Trump spoke for more than two hours
President Donald Trump waves from the top of the stairs while boarding Air Force One after delivering his final midterm campaign speech Sunday night in Salina, Kansas
Trump left the campaign trail with polls suggesting Democrats were poised to take control of the House of Representatives.
Democrats need to gain only three additional seats to do so.
The final New York Times/Siena poll placed Democrats ahead in Senate races in Kansas, Texas, Maine, Ohio and Michigan, although Stevens’ high-profile defection could affect the Michigan contest.
Democratic candidates held narrower leads in Iowa and Alaska.
To control the Senate, Democrats must gain four seats.
In Iowa, House Speaker Mike Johnson took the stage and urged Trump’s supporters not to be swayed by the polling.
“I can tell you this: You can dismiss the polls,” Johnson said. “The polls are wrong around the country.”
He briefly attempted an impression of Trump and praised the President’s stamina after weeks of campaigning.
“Sleep is for sissies,” Johnson said.
