President Donald Trump launched what he called a 32-day campaign blitz Thursday, heading to Texas and Oklahoma as Republicans face tougher midterm races than party officials once expected. Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Florida at the same time. Control of Congress will be decided Nov. 3, 33 days away.
The Message Problem
Trump’s diagnosis is simple: Republicans have a selling problem. “We’re not getting the word out,” he told reporters Wednesday. “I mean, we’re just not getting it.” He said he’d travel widely and urge GOP voters to act as if his name were on the ballot. “I’m going out because nobody’s selling it,” he said.
The backdrop is less tidy. Republicans have grown more pessimistic about their chances as Trump dismisses concerns about high costs and gas prices, and the unpopular war in Iran drags on. Affordability has become a central worry for voters, including in Florida, where data centers are also drawing concern.
The Republican National Committee struck a confident tone. Spokesperson Delanie Bomar said the president is “energizing our base, and supercharging Republican candidates in battleground districts and beyond,” adding, “We have the resources to spend.” The Democratic National Committee countered that Republicans “face defeat.” Deputy Communications Director Kendall Witmer blamed Trump and Vance for a war that she said “sent the economy spiraling and pushed prices even higher.”
Vance spoke Wednesday in Harlingen, Texas, alongside House candidate Eric Flores, who faces a tight south Texas race, and acknowledged voter frustration. “I know that there are people out there who are frustrated by the pace of progress,” he said. He pointed to the previous administration, saying the White House has spent every day “diggin’ ourselves out of the hole that Joe Biden left us in.”
Where the Money and the Miles Are Going
In Oklahoma, Trump planned to campaign with Republican Mike Mazzei, who is running for governor against Democratic state House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson. Democratic Governors Association spokesperson Kevin Donohoe said the rally showed Republicans “are in full-on panic mode.” Organizers planned to hold the event on the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, making Trump one of a handful of presidents to visit tribal nations while in office.
Before Oklahoma, Trump planned to tour a truck manufacturing facility in Texas. Republicans there are spending heavily to back state Attorney General Ken Paxton in a Senate race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. Two campaign officials said Paxton planned to attend Trump’s official White House event in Denton.
In Lakeland, Vance campaigned with Republican Byron Donalds, who is running for Florida governor against David Jolly, a Republican-turned-independent now running as a Democrat. Florida is heavily Republican, but the party faces turbulence there.
The schedule is built for efficiency. A person familiar with the strategy said Durant, Oklahoma, sits close to the Dallas-Fort Worth media market, allowing Trump’s message to reach Texas voters, and said he was expected to discuss Paxton. His Friday stop in Mobile, Alabama, supports Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s run for governor and helps shore up the Florida panhandle for Donalds. Saturday brings Vandalia, Ohio. Monday brings Grand Island, Nebraska.
Inside the GOP Strategy
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles privately told Republican senators on Capitol Hill that Trump would make a near-daily sprint before Election Day. Attendees called the schedule extensive.
West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said officials are “acknowledging the headwinds,” but “they have a strategy, and we have a strategy,” including money the president’s operation will keep deploying. She defended visits to conservative areas. “He can get more of his voters out — that are going to be our voters — than anybody else,” she said.
Why This Matters:
The midterms will decide whether Republicans keep control of Congress, along with the power to steer spending, oversight and the tax and regulatory climate businesses plan around. The facts here show a party relying on one figure’s ability to turn out voters while people worry about prices, gas costs and the Iran war. Capito’s own words about “headwinds” suggest party leaders see the risk. Can a campaign built on rallies and heavy spending overcome pocketbook frustration? That’s the open question. For markets and taxpayers, the result will shape how much policy continuity or disruption follows in 2027.