Trump launches midterm campaign push in Texas and Oklahoma as Republicans face tough races

US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., US, September 30, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON, Oct 1 - President Donald Trump travels to Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday to begin a 32-day campaign blitz aimed at bolstering Republican candidates as his party fights to hold onto its slim congressional majorities in November's midterm elections.

Trump wants to be the face of the party's midterm campaign at a moment when some Republican candidates are unsure whether the president will help or hurt them. While a number of Republicans in competitive US House of Representatives and US Senate races have welcomed Trump's decision to hit the campaign trail, others have become increasingly willing to break with him on issues that are riling voters, including the war with Iran and the spread of electricity-guzzling data centers.

Trump told supporters at a White House event on Wednesday that he had done a bad job so far in selling his economic record since returning to the White House in January 2025. Voter discontent over his handling of the economy has fueled a shift in the electoral map, with some safe Republican seats now viewed as competitive in November by political analysts.

Texas is among eight US Senate races rated competitive. Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, the state's attorney general, is expected to appear with Trump at a stop north of Dallas, Paxton's campaign said.

Political observers will be watching for any awkward interactions between the two men following the leaking of a recording of Paxton telling a group of donors that Trump's midterm convention in September hurt him and other Republican candidates.

The Paxton campaign dismissed the recording as "manipulated nonsense." Trump on Wednesday told reporters he had not heard about the recording. "I can tell you that the convention was amazing," he said in the Oval Office.

Trump backed the scandal-plagued Paxton over incumbent US Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary, forcing the party to spend heavily to defend a traditionally safe Republican seat from Democratic challenger James Talarico.

The president is expected to tout his tariff and trade agenda in Denton during a visit to Peterbilt Motors, where the White House says Trump-era truck tariffs helped spur job growth.

The administration said Trump's truck tariffs had enabled companies like PACCAR, owner of Peterbilt, to add more than 2,000 jobs nationwide, including some 1,000 at the Texas plant.

But the costs to power these diesel and gas trucks recently reached record levels in Texas, stemming from the economic fallout of the Iran war. Diesel in Texas hit a record high of $5.97 per gallon two weeks ago and average gas costs are up almost 44% at $3.92 per gallon compared to this time last year, according to travel analyst AAA.

After his Texas stop, the president will rally in Durant in southern Oklahoma, a state he won with more than 66% of the vote in the 2024 presidential election.

The Republican National Committee, which is organizing the rally, said the location near the Texas border was chosen in part to attract supporters from neighboring Texas, where Paxton and Talarico are fighting for the US Senate seat.

On Friday, Trump will continue his campaign rallies in Alabama, a similarly reliable conservative state in the South that also does not feature marquee competitive races. REUTERS