US Midterms 2026 Latest: Trump backtracks on rallies

Hello there, and welcome to Al Jazeera's Midterms Roundup. I'm Jonah Harland. With four days to go now until Election Day, the president has surprised the nation yet again. The White House has confirmed to Al Jazeera that Donald Trump will campaign in two major battleground states this weekend after initially cancelling them both. Well, both of those rallies were in places the Republicans never thought they'd have to fight this hard to defend. Kansas and Iowa. Well, we've got correspondents standing by for us in key locations in Texas, in Michigan and in Georgia. We begin here in Washington, D.C. with our chief U.S. correspondent, Alan Fisher, at the White House. And Alan, Donald Trump has been campaigning relentlessly over the last couple of weeks, visiting a number of big red states, some of them multiple times. We're talking about places like Georgia, Texas, South Carolina. So why now at this stage, this on again, off again confusion? Well, the White House would say that there's no confusion that... There was an abrupt cancellation of the two events over the weekend, but that was to try and schedule more telly rallies so Donald Trump could make more use of his time, connect with more voters, speak to people about his record. But certainly we saw the events in Kansas and in Iowa be abruptly cancelled on Thursday and then reinstated on Friday. Now, if you speak to the Democrats, they'll say they were cancelled because Donald Trump doesn't want to be tagged. As a loser that the Republicans are behind in both of those states, he realized that and he didn't want to go effectively flogging a dead horse. And certainly Republicans I've spoken to believe that Kansas may well now be a lost cause for the Republicans, given that their Senate candidate is ahead in the polls. But the Republicans believe that this is the way to connect with more voters. And so those events in Iowa and Kansas are back on. And Donald Trump, when he was speaking to the media on Thursday, denied that they'd initially abruptly cancelled those two events because he was feeling tired. He says, what's the reason for this, sir, that you're not going to Kansas? You know what the reason is? I don't feel I have to go to Kansas. I'm going to Florida tomorrow, and I'll do if something else comes up. But he said, you're not going to Kansas, sir. Are you feeling well? You've been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect. You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell. So Donald Trump being a bit brutal to the reporter who asked that question. But he talked about how he wasn't going to go to Kansas and now the White House says he is. So everything that was in place for Saturday is now going to be moved to Sunday and he will do back-to-back rallies. He will also do a rally in Florida tonight, Friday, and the intention is to try and get more and more people out to vote. The Republicans believe and Donald Trump believes he is the party's biggest asset. And there is the possibility he may add more events on Monday, the day before the elections. Alan, with the latest there, thanks very much. Well, let's go to one of those big red Republican states facing a tight Senate race. It's Texas. Of course, it's seen its fair share, more perhaps of its fair share of Donald Trump in the last few days. Phil Lavelle is there in Houston. Early polling, early voting, Phil, about to end. Yeah, and it is still very busy, Jonah. Just to give you an idea, as of last night, 6.1 million Texans had voted. That is half a million more than voted in early voting in 2022. And we've still got the rest of the day here. Now, two things to show you. This is Houston. You might not be able to see because it's a bit dark over there, but there is still a line of people right around this building. This has not died down, even though you would think that now at this point, people have had a chance to vote. People are still coming out. The other thing to to show you, if I could just step through, is all of these signs. Now, we We've had these signs here all the way through to try to encourage people to vote for different candidates. In the last day or so, the number here has exploded. They are everywhere because there is this frenetic attempt to get people's votes locked in as we get closer and closer to election day. And of course, the last few hours of early voting. In terms of what's happening with the campaigns, there is now a lot of attention here in Harris County. This is Texas's most populous county. It surrounds Houston. Both James Tallarico and Ken Paxton. We'll be rallying here over the next 24 hours. And one other thing to note about the Ken Paxton campaign, in fact, two things to note. First of all, he has cancelled two events, although, like I say, he's going to be campaigning here in Houston now because they are trying to get the voters out. The other thing is, you might remember a few days ago, Jonah, President Trump said Republicans are winning big here, obviously in denial of a lot of the public polling that we are seeing. It appears that Ken Paxton didn't get that moment from the president because last night... He put out a fundraising request on X in which he said, and I quote, this is a dead heat, acknowledging that those polls are incredibly tight, obviously trying to get his voters to come out as we get into the final few hours here of early voting. Phil, thank you. Michigan's race for the Senate is another one to watch. On November the 3rd, Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed has an edge over Republican Mike Rogers in the polls, while El-Sayed hit back at Donald Trump's comments in recent days. But here's the deal, Donald. Listen, I'll go through a metal detector. If you'll sit for a lie detector. Simple. Got nothing to hide. You've got so much to hide. My first question is Epstein. Second question. Did you win the 2020 election? So that's the deal. Well, a hugely consequential race. That lets go to Richard Gaisford, who's in Detroit for us. And Richard, so much riding on this Senate race for the Democrats. How are things looking as we close in on the vote? Well, there's certainly a confidence there. You can hear it in Abdul El-Sayed's voice as he launches back at the president, having suffered what seems to be a nonstop. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. ...American voters. It's also thought that Hayley Stevens will bring a big block of Jewish voters with her as well. Mike Rogers, on the other hand, is having a slightly tougher time. He's certainly behind in the polls here, and his big name for the weekend is going to be Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the House. He's going to bring him here to Michigan to try and get some votes behind him. Thanks for that, Richard. And let's go now to Maine. Home to a multi-million dollar lobster industry that's been hit hard by inflation, tariff uncertainty and rising gas prices. That's frustrated many supporters of the state's Senator Susan Collins, who's been in office for nearly 30 years. Eva McKend has asked Maine's lobstermen about whether Collins can still count on their support. Maine's lobstermen have long been seen as a reliably conservative constituency, but in a state where every Senate vote could matter, some who have supported Susan Collins are thinking about a different course. Bruce Furnall, 75 and still working the waters off his home on Cranberry Island. Like other small business owners, the economy plays a factor in how he sees this pivotal midterm election, where Maine voters could determine the balance of power in Washington. Mostly it's the cost of doing business and the price of lobsters. So all of that gets affected by political decisions. The lobsterman has voted for incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins in the past, but he's increasingly frustrated with what he views as too much compliance with President Donald Trump. Well, there's still money she brings in, but then on the other hand, she's taken it away with a lot of rural hospitals closing because the funding is not going to be there because of the great, beautiful bill. The bill's Medicaid cuts have raised concerns about the future of rural hospitals. Collins ultimately voted against the final bill, but says she helped it advance in the Senate in effort to negotiate changes. On these waters, the five-term senator has a record of support for the industry, including pausing new federal right whale regulations with the main congressional delegation and bringing millions in funding for research to the state. Her opponent does, too. Democratic candidate for Senate Troy Jackson supported a legal defense fund to help the industry challenge regulations when he was Senate president in the state legislature. At 76, John Carter has spent more than five decades lobstering. He says Collins's record matters more than how some voters feel about Trump. Number one, she's a hardworking Mainer. She doesn't miss votes. She pays attention to what's going on. And she's been a huge, huge supporter of the Maine lobster industry. He says her critics aren't giving her nearly 30 years in the Senate a fair review. Because I think people are voting against Susan Collins because they don't like Trump. But for Fernald, in recent years, that record has become troublesome. Because I don't like a lot of her votes. Maine lobster is still worth hundreds of millions of dollars with costs up in the industry under pressure. It's men and women like these who will have a say in determining who best represents Mainers in the nation's capital. Eva McKend, Al Jazeera, Maine. Okay, well, Democrats are hoping to hold on to their seat in Georgia, their Senate seat there, where incumbent John Ossoff has a comfortable lead over Republican challenger Mike Collins. Former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned alongside Ossoff in Atlanta on Thursday. A sense of helplessness and powerlessness. Folks feeling like, I'm watching all this happen, but I can't do anything about it. Well, that moment has passed. This is the moment where we turn that anger into action. For the next five days, use that power to go vote and make sure everybody else you know votes. Let's win this thing and let's pave the path to a beautiful future. Well, let's bring in Matthew Torres, who's in Atlanta for us. So the Democrats, Matthew, have brought out their big guns in Georgia. Barack Obama was there. Kamala Harris now. Are they confident? Hey, we were in that room on Thursday and it was clear there was a sense of optimism and confidence, especially with how early voting turnout is going. Vice President Kamala Harris was there to engage and inspire the youth to say if they want change, then they better cast a ballot. She also echoed what we heard from state officials this week, that Gen Z voters, 18 to 24 year olds, are now the largest voting bloc in the state of Georgia. And there has been an increase in early voting turnout within that age group. That is certainly a good thing for the students that we met, specifically the first-time voters who feel inspired and they want to defend funding for HBCUs, which this is where that event was held. It was at Clark Atlanta University, one of six historically black colleges and universities in the city of Atlanta. Harris herself. I went to HBCU at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and these students say they want to fulfill that right to vote in a state where the civil rights movement played a prominent role. I really want a better future for everyone, especially like the next generation, the next generation. I feel like we, especially because now a lot of us can drive, we're in college, so a lot of the stuff that's happening in the current administration is actively affecting us. And now we're finally old enough to do something about it, to make change. It meant a lot to me to say that we're breaking records because a lot of people, young people, we don't vote. And I don't think it's popular to vote and young at our age. More are hitting the polls. What's the change? Definitely social media, social media and the media has put voting in the limelight. Today is the last day to early vote. And Georgia already shattered its own records in 2022 at 2.3 million ballots. As of this morning, more than 2.5 million ballots have already been cast. Jonah. Matthew, thank you. To Wisconsin now, that makes the most cheese in the US and usually exports a lot of it to Canada. Well, that means it's also been hit hard by Donald Trump's tariffs. Manuel Rapolo explains how the midterms are playing out in a state that's at the heart of America's dairy industry. Wisconsin is known as America's dairy land, but this midterm season, voters have a lot more on their minds than just cows. From jobs, the economy, to immigration, there's plenty at stake in the Badger State. You know, gas is really expensive, groceries are really expensive, pay I think is also probably a big thing on people's minds. I think what's on the mind of Wisconsin voters is or are the same things that are on the minds of a lot of American voters, the majority of American voters. I think the biggest thing here is we're watching the wealthy get wealthier while the average American suffers with higher prices and stagnant wages. I have a small company and We run diesel trucks all day, every day, and it's just taking all of our profit right now. So I would say affordability would be the number one here locally. Wisconsin is a purple state, a political battleground where both Republicans and Democrats have enjoyed success. And while voters here will be determining who represents them in Congress and who governs the state, the implications could reach far beyond the Midwest. Manuel Rapalo, Al Jazeera, Appleton, Wisconsin. Well, that's all for now. You've been watching the midterms roundup here on Al Jazeera. Thanks for being with us. Coming up at 18.30, GMT, 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time here in the United States. This is America looks at what voters are most worried about in this year's midterms.