Updated October 31, 2026, 5:09 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump said he expects an Oct. 30 rally in Florida to be the final event in his midterm blitz, and even though his vote rises to “49.2 percent,” he will indeed visit Iowa and Kansas this weekend.
“I thought that was going to be my last one, Byron, I thought that was it,” Trump said at the Florida rally, referring to Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Byron Donalds. “I thought I could relax. 28 days of this shit is a lot,”
The Republican National Committee announced this week that its Saturday, October 31 rally in Kansas and Sunday, November 1 in Iowa would be canceled.
At the time, polls showed close Senate races in the two traditionally Republican states, and after some pushback, Trump announced he would head to Midwestern stages on Sunday. He spoke about the schedule changes to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, October 30, saying he had received calls from Republicans in both states asking him to come.
“Then they called me in Iowa, and then they called me in Kansas, and they said, ‘Sir, would it be possible to have a small gathering of about 50,000 people each?’ and I said, ‘Is that important,'” Trump told the Florida crowd. “They said ‘we just want to make sure we win’.”
On October 29, Trump also attacked a Reuters reporter who asked him about the canceled rallies.
With just days until Election Day, Republicans are increasingly playing defense to maintain their 53-47 majority in the Senate and 218-214 in the House of Representatives. Political experts predict that Democrats will take control of at least the House of Representatives, and that which party controls the Senate will depend on a short list of Senate races, including in Kansas and Iowa.
During his midterm blitz before his Friday in Florida, Trump traveled through South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Michigan and Georgia. He also traveled to Florida the previous Saturday, October 24, to vote in the election himself.
The Republican defense carried Trump in states like Nebraska, Alaska, South Carolina, Iowa and Kansas, which are generally considered safer victories for Republicans.
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