President Trump has embarked on a campaign swing across a remarkably conservative swath of America in a six-day blitz that began Monday, trying to boost Republican turnout in places the party did not view as competitive just a few months ago.<\/p>\n
With just two weeks to go until the midterm elections, Mr. Trump\u2019s itinerary reflects how worried the G.O.P. is about its prospects for holding onto the House and Senate, and winning governor\u2019s races nationwide.<\/p>\n
Traditionally Republican strongholds have become battlegrounds this cycle. Polling in these places shows that Mr. Trump\u2019s policies on tariffs and the war in Iran \u2014 and their effect on the prices of gas, diesel and groceries for everyday Americans \u2014 have gravely threatened the party\u2019s fortunes.<\/p>\n
The president started his barnstorm in Kansas, with plans to pass through the Carolinas, Florida, Iowa and Georgia. He will stump in five House districts he won in 2024 by more than 20 points, and for the most part in states with unusually competitive Senate races.<\/p>\n
Notably, he is staying away from traditional battleground states such as Maine and New Hampshire, where Republican candidates have distanced themselves from the president in hopes of winning over more moderate voters. His choice appears to signal a political strategy that focuses not on persuading swing voters but on shoring up support from the base that powered his rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe goes where the battles are,\u201d said John McLaughlin, a longtime pollster for Mr. Trump. \u201cAnd this is where the battles are.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a more favorable political environment for Republicans, the party would be looking to pick up a Senate seat in Georgia and defend one in North Carolina, in addition to using the president to defend its Senate seat in Maine.<\/p>\n
But Mr. Trump and his political team have all but given up on the first two states, and have accepted the president\u2019s inability to help Senator Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent in Maine, two advisers to the president said in interviews. This cycle, the White House sees Texas, Ohio, Iowa and Michigan as the battlegrounds, they said. Michigan represents the rare setting this year for a competitive seat held by a Democrat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis idea that he\u2019s going to red states, well yeah that\u2019s where the races are right now, which tells you all you need to know,\u201d one of the advisers said. \u201cBut also we\u2019re playing to a national audience in terms of motivating Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The swing will also allow Mr. Trump\u2019s political operation to generate good \u201cpictures\u201d to use in advertisements beyond his actual itinerary, the adviser said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe play to visuals,\u201d the adviser said. \u201cAnd if we\u2019re in a congressional district that\u2019s next door to a competitive congressional district, what difference does it make? It\u2019s all the same people, it\u2019s all the same media.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump remains his party\u2019s most effective motivator a decade after he descended a golden escalator at his namesake building in midtown Manhattan to announce his first bid for the White House. Yet his popularity has dipped to historic lows, with about 37 percent<\/a> of Americans approving of how he is handling his job.<\/p>\n The Republican National Committee, in announcing his travel, said the itinerary is intended to shore up the party\u2019s vulnerable candidates. But the president is also known to go where he will find adoring crowds, and the midterm blitz through ruby red America provides him ample opportunity for that experience.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump will start the week in a House district in Wichita, Kansas, that backed him over former Vice President Kamala Harris two years ago by more than 23 points. He will then travel to Greenville, North Carolina, which, under the state\u2019s new congressional map, would have broken for him by 14 points, before swinging through Clemson, South Carolina, to a district that he carried by a whopping 43 points. Mr. Trump will end the week with stops in deep-red Sioux City, Iowa, and Fort Myers, Florida, before a final rally Saturday in Macon, Georgia.<\/p>\n Next week, he will rally in Lubbock and Waco, Texas, said Republican National Committee Press Secretary Natalie Baldassarre.<\/p>\n Vice President JD Vance, who has also embarked on a campaign swing this month, has taken a similar approach. He kicked off the week in North Carolina, and will end it in a district in Nebraska that backed the president by more than 50 points.<\/p>\n Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who worked for the campaigns of former President George W. Bush and Mitt Romney, called the White House\u2019s posture \u201cdefensive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTwo of the most valuable assets on any campaign are money and time,\u201d Mr. Madden said. \u201cWhere you are spending your money and where you are spending your time in the last two weeks says a lot about your strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n