Trump scraps Iowa and Kansas rallies, leans on televised spectacle instead
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
President Donald Trump has canceled scheduled rallies in Iowa and Kansas, replacing them with virtual "tele-rallies" aimed at nearly 20 states ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
President Donald Trump said he will not travel to Iowa and Kansas for planned midterm rally stops, opting instead for a string of virtual "tele-rallies" that the Republican National Committee (RNC) will broadcast to about 20 states, including battlegrounds such as Michigan, Alaska, Texas and Iowa.
RNC Chairman Joe Gruters framed the online format as a way to reach more voters and called the effort a "72-hour sprint," underscoring the party’s frantic push in the final days before Election Day.
The only in-person rally still scheduled to go ahead is Friday’s event in Daytona Beach, Florida, near the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
The RNC said more events could still be added in the coming days.
The cancellations come as the midterm elections draw closer, with the Republican Party holding narrow majorities in both the Senate (53 of 100 seats) and the House (218 of 435 seats). Political forecasts from Harvard University’s ElectIt model give Democrats a high probability of winning control of the House and a strong chance of taking the Senate.
During a post-rally press interaction in South Carolina, President Trump declined to discuss his health and again projected confidence in the Republican Party’s prospects, saying, "We’re going to have a strong Tuesday night."