Donald Trump has cancelled two weekend campaign rallies in Kansas and Iowa, just days before the November 3 midterm elections, and will instead reach voters through a series of virtual tele-rallies.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) announced the cancellations on Thursday, October 29. The in-person rallies had been planned for Salina, Kansas, on Saturday and Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday. In their place, the party said Trump would hold a large number of tele-rallies in a series of states before Election Day.
What happened
The RNC said the change would let Trump reach more voters in the limited time left before polls close. “With Republicans in a strong position in Kansas and Iowa, previously planned in-person rallies in those states will no longer take place as scheduled,” the committee said in its statement.
MAGA Inc, a campaign funding group aligned with Trump, said it would organise telephone rallies featuring the president in at least 19 states, including Kansas and Iowa, before Election Day. RNC chairman Joe Gruters described the final 72 hours as an important opportunity to mobilise support, saying voters across the country wanted to hear from Trump before Election Day.
Trump has kept up a gruelling campaign schedule through October, holding 25 rallies across 19 states since October 1, often speaking for well over an hour at each event. He has repeatedly urged supporters to vote as if he were on the ballot himself, telling crowds to “pretend I’m on the ballot” in an effort to maximise Republican turnout.
The exchange with a reporter
The cancellations prompted questions about Trump’s health and stamina after weeks of near-daily travel. After returning to Washington from a campaign trip to South Carolina on Thursday, a Reuters reporter asked Trump whether he was tired of travelling and whether that was behind the decision to skip Kansas.
Trump reacted angrily. “You’re sick to ask that question. You are sick,” he told the reporter, before adding: “I feel perfect. You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape, you look like hell.”
He also questioned the need for the Kansas trip itself, saying: “I don’t feel like I have to go to Kansas.” Of Republican Senator Roger Marshall, he said: “He is doing very well,” and added: “We are going to have a strong Tuesday night.”
Trump has noted in recent days that his voice has grown hoarse from the pace of campaigning. Speaking in Mississippi earlier in the week, he said: “God didn’t make your vocal cords to do a rally every day.”
Why Kansas and Iowa matter
Both states were strongly favoured to stay Republican at the start of the election cycle, but their Senate races have tightened sharply in the final weeks, which is why the cancellations have drawn so much attention.
In Kansas, Republican incumbent Roger Marshall faces Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton, a megachurch pastor. A CNN/SSRS poll conducted October 20-26 put Hamilton four points ahead, with 49 percent support against Marshall’s 45 percent. A separate polling average compiled by Real Clear Politics showed a much closer contest, with Hamilton ahead by just 0.2 percentage points. JD Vance campaigned for Marshall in Topeka earlier in the campaign, underlining how seriously Republicans have taken the race.
In Iowa, the polling average has Republican nominee Ashley Hinson ahead of Democrat Josh Turek by 0.5 percentage points, another race well within the margin of error. Iowa is also home to several competitive congressional races, which the RNC cited when it confirmed the Dubuque cancellation.
Trump has already visited both states during this campaign, holding a rally in Sioux City, Iowa, on October 22 and another in Park City, Kansas, on October 19. He carried both states by double digits in 2024, but his approval ratings have slipped in both since then. According to the Civiqs state-by-state approval tracker, his net approval rating stood at minus 1 percent in Kansas and minus 20 percent in Iowa at the time of the cancellations.
Some Republicans have questioned whether such a visible presidential campaign helps or hurts in tight races. Karl Rove, a former adviser to President George W. Bush, recently wrote that the president was gambling that his constant presence would animate more supporters than it would energise opponents.
What stays on the schedule
The cancellations do not end Trump’s in-person campaigning. His rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday is still scheduled to go ahead, and it is now set to be his final in-person rally before Election Day.
After Florida, the campaign shifts entirely to tele-rallies. The RNC said additional virtual events could be announced in the coming days, with battleground states such as Michigan, Alaska and Texas among those expected to be covered, alongside Iowa and Kansas.
Why it matters
The November 3 midterms will decide control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s second term. Republicans currently hold narrow majorities in both chambers, with 53 seats in the Senate and 218 in the House. Political forecasters have given Democrats an advantage in the fight for the House, while the Senate contest is expected to be closer.
That is what makes the Kansas and Iowa decisions significant. Cancelling in-person rallies in two states where Republican candidates are in unexpectedly tight races, and replacing them with phone events, is a calculated change of tactics in the final days. The party’s public explanation is that tele-rallies reach more voters. The underlying question, which the results on Tuesday night will answer, is whether a phone call from the president motivates supporters as effectively as a rally stage does.
The move also fits a wider pattern in the closing days of the campaign. Trump’s $1 million reward for voter-fraud tips and Barack Obama rallied Democrats in Ohio and Michigan have both kept the national spotlight on turnout, while the Justice Department ordered California counties to set aside ballots from suspected noncitizens in a separate election-integrity dispute. With early voting already under way in many states, both parties are now fighting less over new arguments than over who actually shows up to vote.
Timeline
- October 1-29: Trump holds 25 rallies across 19 states in the midterm campaign’s closing stretch.
- October 19: Trump holds a rally in Park City, Kansas.
- October 22: Trump holds a rally in Sioux City, Iowa.
- October 20-26: A CNN/SSRS poll puts Adam Hamilton four points ahead of Roger Marshall in Kansas.
- Thursday, October 29: The RNC announces the Kansas and Iowa rallies are cancelled; Trump defends the decision to reporters after returning from South Carolina.
- Friday, October 30: Trump’s rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, is scheduled to go ahead as his final in-person rally before Election Day.
- Saturday-Sunday: The planned Salina, Kansas, and Dubuque, Iowa, rallies are replaced by tele-rallies.
- Tuesday, November 3: Midterm elections decide control of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
What happens next
Watch for the tele-rally schedule. The RNC has not yet published a full public list of the virtual events, and the states covered — and whether Trump takes questions or simply delivers a recorded-style address — will show how much of a substitute these calls are meant to be.
Watch Kansas and Iowa polling in the final days. If Marshall and Hinson hold on without a closing in-person visit from Trump, the party will present the tele-rally strategy as a success. If either race slips, the cancellations will be revisited as one of the campaign’s defining late decisions.
And watch Florida on Friday. As Trump’s last in-person rally of the campaign, its size, tone and message will set the closing argument Republicans take into the final weekend.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Trump cancel the Kansas and Iowa rallies?
The Republican National Committee said the in-person rallies would no longer take place as scheduled and that tele-rallies would let Trump reach more voters in the limited time left before polls close. Trump himself said he did not feel he had to go to Kansas and expressed confidence in Senator Roger Marshall’s campaign.
Which rallies were cancelled?
The rally planned for Salina, Kansas, on Saturday and the rally planned for Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday. Both were part of Trump’s closing midterm campaign schedule.
What are tele-rallies?
Tele-rallies are telephone-based campaign events in which voters listen to the candidate by phone rather than attending in person. MAGA Inc said it would organise such events featuring Trump in at least 19 states, including Kansas and Iowa, before Election Day.
Is Trump still holding any in-person rallies?
Yes. His rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday is still scheduled and is now set to be his final in-person rally before the November 3 elections.
Are the Kansas and Iowa Senate races really close?
Yes, according to recent polling. A CNN/SSRS poll put Democrat Adam Hamilton four points ahead of Republican Roger Marshall in Kansas, while the Real Clear Politics average showed Hamilton ahead by just 0.2 points. In Iowa, the same average put Republican Ashley Hinson 0.5 points ahead of Democrat Josh Turek.
When are the midterm elections?
The midterm elections are on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. They will decide control of the US Senate and the House of Representatives.
Related coverage
For more on this election season, see our US News section, which covers the midterm campaign from both parties, the key Senate races, and the election-integrity disputes shaping the final days before voting.