Trump, speaking in Iowa, praises Stevens’ defection while lobbing Islamophobic insults at El-Sayed
On stage in Iowa, Trump praised congresswoman Haley Stevens’ defection from the Democrats to support Mike Rogers Senate campaign – going so far as to welcome her to join the Republican Party.
“I don’t know Haley, I’ve never met Haley, but Haley said what few people are willing to say,” Trump said.
He continued: “I’d love her to join the Republican Party, actually, I think that could happen maybe. But she showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the great people of Michigan.”
He then branded Abdul El-Sayed, a Muslim, as a “jihadist,” continuing a line of a Islamophobic attacks against the progressive Democratic Senate nominee.
“Can you imagine, we’ll have to put him through metal detectors…” Trump mused, likening El-Sayed to a terrorist in a remark that drew on anti-Muslim stereotypes.
“Here’s the deal, Donald, listen,” El-Sayed responded on Thursday after Trump made this same suggestion. “I’ll go through a metal detector if you’ll sit for a lie detector. Simple. I got nothing to hide. You’ve got so much to hide.”
Updated at 17.33 EST
Key events
Edward Helmore
Donald Trump closed out his address in Kansas saying “we’re hotter now than ever before and hotter than we’ve ever been. We’re going to go up a long ways from here.”
double quotation markIt’s my honor to be your president during such an exciting time in the history of our country … There’s no greater honor.”
Trump may campaign in 2028, but this election marks the end of the campaign rallies – with their unique blend of politics and entertainment – which will directly affect his ability to govern from the White House.
Donald Trump leaves the stage after speaking at a campaign rally at Salina Regional Airport in Kansas. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
double quotation markWe’ve been doing this for eleven years, and there’s never been anything like it, and it probably never will be again. There will never be the crowds. They’ll never be the feeling. I don’t think it can ever happen again. This is a unique thing that’s taken place.”
He concluded:
double quotation markSo let’s go out and do what we do best, which is to win, win, win. Let’s make the next two years bigger and better and stronger than ever before, because together we will make America powerful again wealthy again, healthy again, strong again, proud again, safe again, and most importantly, we will make America great again.”
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Lauren Gambino
Continued from last post:
“Xavier Becerra – he’s familia,” said Angelica Salas, an immigration activist who leads the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
double quotation markXavier Becerra dreams the way we dream.
Lucky Longoria, a 51-year-old nurse, said federal cuts enacted by Trump’s so-called big beautiful bill have disproportionately impacted low-income, and Hispanic patients. She trusts Becerra’s experience at HHS will help expand affordable healthcare and address the nursing shortage in the state.
“Being led by someone who knows the struggle, someone who knows how hard it is to come from underneath,” Longoria said. “It gives us hope.
double quotation markI guarantee you that the next leader of this state – of this country – and it could be years down the line, will be a child who saw this race and thought that could be me one day.
Xavier Becerra shakes hands with supporters at the campaign event at the Hollywood Palladium. Photograph: Jill Connelly/APShareLauren Gambino
Xavier Becerra doesn’t talk often about the history he will make if he’s elected governor of California on Tuesday. The son of immigrants from Mexico, Becerra would become the first Latino governor in modern California history. (The last time was in 1875.)
At the Palladium in Los Angeles on Sunday night, supporters became emotional thinking about Becerra ascending to the governor’s mansion next year, particularly at this moment, where so many immigrants and Latino Californians feel “hunted” and “targeted” by the Trump administration.
“The stakes could not be higher,” said California senator Alex Padilla, also the son of immigrants from Mexico, who became the face of the administration’s militarized immigration crackdown when federal agents forcibly removed him from a Department of Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles.
“We’ve known better than anybody what these last two years have been like,” Padilla said of Californians.
double quotation markWe have endured relentless attacks on our communities by Donald Trump and his rogue ICE agents.
“Xavier Becerra – he’s familia,” said Angelica Salas, an immigration activist who leads the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “Xavier Becerra dreams the way we dream.”
Continued next post
Updated at 22.42 EST
Edward Helmore
As Donald Trump took the stage in Kansas at his second midterm rally of the day, he reminded the crowd that he’d won the state three times.
“This is my thirtieth rally and I’m closing it down tonight. I’ve been doing it for one simple reason – to stop America-hating communists and jihadists” from taking over the United States.”
“We’re going to be so big, we’re going to win by so much,” the president said. That prediction is not supported by polling, but the visit has a single objective: “All I’m asking you to do is one more thing: get out and vote,” Trump said.
double quotation markIf you do, we’re going to have a tremendous success.
Trump leaned heavily into his support from Christians, saying that Roger Marshall had supported him from before he announced his first run for presidency in 2015.
Trump said the incumbent Republican senator had acknowledged he “may not recite Biblical verse well, but he’s the strongest leader, and he will take us Christians to the promised land”.
“And I’ve done that,” Trump said.
Donald Trump at the campaign rally at Salina regional sirport in Salina, Kansas. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters
Trump also leaned his support of gun rights, and warned that Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton “will totally open your borders”.
Trump described Hamilton as a “woke pastor”, though Hamilton’s platform is centrist. “He’s bad news,’” Trump said.
double quotation markHe would be a disaster. He’ll go against guns, and he’ll go against every single thing that we all stand for.
Trump’s address in Salina was delayed, he said, because he didn’t want to interfere with the NFL game between Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos – a game that Kansas led but ultimately lost 24-28.
“Maybe I should have,” he said. “That was a nasty ending, wasn’t it?”
Updated at 22.27 EST
Becerra says he’ll stand up to ‘dangerous authoritarianism’Lauren Gambino
A beaming Xavier Becerra took the stage in Los Angeles and vowed as governor to take on Trump – and expand healthcare, protect immigrant communities, preserve access to abortion and address the climate crisis.
“I have stood up to dangerous authoritarianism before and I’m ready to do it again,” he said.
double quotation markI’m ready to be what the haters fear most – a proud son of immigrants with a law degree and a union card governing America’s most diverse and successful state.
But he added:
double quotation markI want to make one thing abundantly clear: I’m not running to make history. I’m running to make a difference.
Xavier Becerra, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, at the rally in Los Angeles. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersXavier Becerra (C) with (L-R) Senator Alex Padilla, former US vice-president Kamala Harris, California governor Gavin Newsom and Senator Adam Schiff. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersShare
Updated at 22.37 EST
Lauren Gambino
Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom didn’t exactly share a stage – they spoke one after the other. But any signs of the sibling rivalry that’s been a source of speculation as the Californians weigh 2028 bids were not evident on Sunday night – which was squarely focused on 2026.
“That was Kamala Harris in the house. A big round of applause,” Newsom bellowed, taking the stage as Harris exited. The crowd happily obliged.
Both received a homestate welcome in Los Angeles.
“I’m glad to be home,” the former vice-president said, noting that she’s been campaigning in Nevada, Michigan, New Hampshire and Georgia – all states critical to the 2028 map.
But the evening was spent rallying supporters behind the Democrats running to flip the five redrawn House seats – and the state’s first Latino governor.
Newsom said he was proud to represent the most “un-Trump state” in the country, and then, in something of a passing of the baton, introduced Xavier Becerra, whom he called a “fierce advocate for the values that define” California.
Pictures have begun coming in of Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom at the Los Angeles rally for Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra, the favourite to become California’s next governor.
Former US vice-president Kamala Harris at the ‘Stop the power grab’ rally at the Hollywood Palladium. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersCalifornia governor Gavin Newsom. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/ReutersShare
Updated at 21.44 EST
Lauren Gambino
Democratic senator Adam Schiff, one of Trump’s favorite political adversaries, railed against the “wannabe despot” in the White House during remarks at the Hollywood Palladium.
Schiff said:
double quotation markThink about the fact that the greatest threat to our elections is not some hostile foreign power. It is the meddling of our own president.
The Trump administration has sought to block the vote count in the state, an effort that courts have repeatedly rejected.
“So the president can talk about asses all he wants,” Schiff quipped of Trump’s late-campaign-season fixation with Ohio senator Jon Husted’s posterior.
double quotation markWe’re going to throw those asses out of office.
Democratic senator Adam Schiff at the campaign event in Hollywood. Photograph: Jill Connelly/APShare
Edward Helmore
Donald Trump is set to hold his second midterm rally of the day in Salina, Kansas, after an appearance earlier in Dubuque, Iowa.
Sunday’s Kansas rally would be the second visit in two weeks in support of Republican incumbent senator Roger Marshall.
Republican US Senate reelection candidate Roger Marshall delivers remarks ahead of a planned rally with US President Donald Trump in Salina, Kansas Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters
Trump’s Kansas stop on Sunday is scheduled as his last of the 2026 midterm election cycle. He lasted visited the state on 19 October, with vice-president JD Vance visiting on 26 October and in September.
The race between Marshall and Democrat Adam Hamilton is projected as a toss-up in a state that is reliably Republican – Kansas hasn’t elected a Democratic senator in nearly a century. But even here, high costs of living and fuel have left the Republican candidate vulnerable.
Marshall told rallygoers ahead of Trump’s appearance that their votes were “not just choosing a senator, you’re deciding whether your kids and grandkids grow up in Chuck Schumer’s woke, radical America, or in the Kansas that we love”.
Updated at 21.30 EST
Trump floats ‘concept’ of new Canada trade deal after talking with Carney
Donald Trump is saying his administration has the “concept” of a new trade deal with Canada while prime minister Mark Carney says the two leaders had a good conversation on the future of trade between their countries.
The US and Canada have imposed billions of dollars in tariffs on each other in recent months and the tariffs on Canada has emerged as an issue in some northern US border states like Michigan and Maine before Tuesday’s US midterms.
Trump – quoted by Reuters – told reporters in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday:
double quotation markI spoke to him again yesterday, and we have the concept of a deal that’s going to be great for our farmers, great for our country, and we’ll be fine for that.
Carney said on X earlier on Sunday that their exchange “builds on recent constructive discussions on the outlines of a mutually beneficial trade deal” that would create jobs, improve affordability and fully respect Canada’s languages, culture and sovereignty.
double quotation markOur teams will now be working in the coming weeks to deliver that outcome.
Updated at 21.16 EST
We’ve got vision here of Donald Trump at the Iowa rally tossing Islamophobic insults at the progressive Abdul El-Sayed while praising Haley Stevens’s switch from the Democrats to support Republican Mike Rogers in the tight Michigan Senate contest.
Trump praises Haley Stevens’ defection while lobbing Islamophobic insults at El-Sayed – videoShareLauren Gambino
At the Hollywood Palladium, supporters are holding signs declaring a “Becerra era” is on the horizon. One content creator waved a shirt that read: “Steyer slayer” – a reminder of the divisive primary contest between Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer, the billionaire climate activist who spent record sums attacking his opponent’s campaign.
Becerra faces Steve Hilton in general election. Hilton, a former Downing Street adviser to David Cameron and a former Fox News host who has been endorsed by Trump, faces strong headwinds in the heavily Democratic state.
Ahead of the rally, supporters began to gather as pop music blared and a banner urged them to “vote blue”. At the entrance, an ofrenda – an altar decorated with candles and flowers to welcome deceased loved ones during Día de los Muertos – was on display in honor of Dolores Huerta, the longtime civil rights activist who died on Wednesday at 96.
People cheer and hold signs while waiting for Xavier Becerra during the ‘Stop the Power Grab’ rally at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Photograph: Chris Torres/EPAShare
Updated at 20.08 EST
Lauren Gambino
Hello from the historic Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, where Xavier Becerra – who is heavily favored to be the next governor of California – will appear shortly alongside the current governor, Gavin Newsom, and former vice-president Kamala Harris. The state’s senators, Democrats Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, will also attend.
The high-profile gathering marks the final sprint to the 3 November election on Tuesday. Democrats feel confident in California, where they redrew its House lines to create a more favorable map for the party as a counterpunch to Texas. If successful, House Democrats could net as many as five additional seats here.
But the Democrats were here to talk about ballot measures. Not that one – the billionaires’ tax, which has sharply divided the party. (Becerra and Newsom are against it.) Instead, they’re warning against Prop 39 , a measure being pushed by Trump’s allies in the state that would add new voter ID requirements.
Xavier Becerra at a campaign event in San Francisco on Friday. Photograph: Akash Pamarthy1/APShare
Updated at 20.10 EST
We’ve got a full report now on Donald Trump railing against Democratic US Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed at that Iowa campaign event a little earlier and repeatedly referring to the Michigan progressive as a “jihadist”.
Trump’s comments aimed to influence a neck-and-neck race that will play an outsized role in determining which party controls the Senate after Tuesday’s midterm elections, reports Roque Planas.
Abdul El-Sayed at a Michigan campaign rally on Sunday. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
The president attacked El-Sayed – a practising Muslim – in brazenly racist terms, saying that Congress would have to “get a special metal detector for Abdul” if he were elected.
“If you vote for this jihadist lunatic that wants to destroy you, you’re crazy,” Trump said.
The Michigan race has drawn national attention in recent days as Hayley Stevens – who lost to El-Sayed in the August primary election – declined to campaign with him, while demanding that he publicly disavow an outside group’s political ad that posited a link between rising prices and US military support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
El-Sayed responded by telling Stevens to stay away from a campaign event at which they were supposed to appear together on Sunday. Stevens turned around and endorsed Mike Rogers, El-Sayed’s Republican opponent.
See the full report here:
Updated at 19.44 EST
Two Democratic congressional nominees have reaffirmed their support for Abdul El-Sayed after Haley Stevens’s switch to support the GOP’s Mike Rogers in Michigan.
Daniel Biss (Illinois) and Brad Lander (New York) said in a joint statement:
double quotation markWe are Jewish elected officials who stand with Abdul El-Sayed in his campaign for the U.S. Senate. We are guided by our deeply held conviction that the safety of Jewish people depends on a thriving democracy, and we cannot support a candidate who does not defend it. Through our relationships with Abdul, we know he shares that commitment and will arrive in Congress ready to join us in confronting Trump’s authoritarian ambitions.
Updated at 19.26 EST
Gavin Newsom has added his voice to the ongoing fallout over Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race.
California’s governor posted on X:
double quotation markThe Republican Party is the party of Donald Trump.
A vote for Mike Rogers IS a vote for Trump.
I stand with Dr. @AbdulElSayed
ShareTrump predicts ‘tremendous victory’ for elections Tuesday
Trump has just finished speaking at the Iowa rally and predicted that “we’re going to have a tremendous victory on Tuesday”.
He also repeated his controversial pledge to give every adult American $5,000 if Republicans won both the House and the Senate, while warning that Democratic wins in the chambers would plunge the US into a “1929-style economic depression”.
President Donald Trump returns a salute to members of the audience as he arrives to speak during a campaign rally at the Five Flags Event Center. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/APShare
Updated at 19.59 EST
Edward Helmore
Fallout over Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers continued Sunday, with figures from the progressive left stepping up to back Abdul El-Sayed.
Hasan Piker, the left wing social commentator who has been a focus of Republican efforts to undermine El-Sayed’s campaign, posted on X that “Stevens is not the spokesperson for democrats, she’s not the spox for Jewish people or black people”.
He continued:
double quotation markShe’s a self interested striver who’s weirdly obsessed with Israel and has been paid handsomely for this strange obsession. This race is about solving the affordability crisis, defending democracy, fighting back against the racialized violence all communities have faced since trump came into power and serving Michigan. Haley and mike rogers serve trump, and trump serves the Epstein class.
Bernie Sanders also joined the controversy, attacking Stevens for what Democrats view as an extraordinary betrayal and Stevens accepted El-Sayed’s narrow victory over her in Michagan’s Democrat senate primaries.
“Rep. Haley Stevens’ staff is right to resign in disgust,” Sanders posted on X.
double quotation markThey understand that the election in Michigan is far more important than Haley’s fragile ego and that all of us must stand together to elect Abdul, defeat Rogers and end the Republican rubber-stamp control of the Senate.
Updated at 18.22 EST