President Trump is planning to rally in heavily Republican states over the next week as his party works to compete in battleground states to preserve its control of Congress.
Republicans said he would appear in Durant, Okla., on Thursday and in Mobile, Ala., next Friday. The Trump 47 Committee, his joint fund-raising vehicle with the Republican National Committee, will host both events.
Mr. Trump is also scheduled to watch the University of Texas play the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday afternoon, in the premier college football matchup of the weekend.
The president’s itinerary, about five weeks before the midterm elections, focuses on solidly Republican states and congressional districts where he can count on a warm welcome. In 2024, for example, Mr. Trump carried 77 percent of the vote in Oklahoma’s Second Congressional District, which includes Durant.
The Republican Party said it hoped that his visit to Durant, a city near the Texas border, would help candidates in both Texas and Oklahoma, and that his stop in Mobile, near Florida’s Panhandle, would reach voters in that state.
Meanwhile, nominees in battleground areas have poured tens of millions of dollars into tight races. In those competitive areas, a growing number of Republicans are openly distancing themselves from Mr. Trump as they struggle with the declining appeal of the president and his signature policies.
Representative Ashley Hinson of Iowa, a Republican running for the open Senate seat in her state, skipped an appearance onstage at Mr. Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas and chose not to attend a rally last week headlined by Vice President JD Vance. Other candidates have chosen not to appear with Mr. Trump or have omitted his endorsements from their campaign ads.
This week, Republicans in tight Senate and governor races demanded an end to the war in Iran to try to undo the rise in prices of consumer goods and energy. Three other Republican senators called for an ethics inquiry into the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. over his lavish wedding after party, paid for by a Russian businessman with Kremlin ties.
