Trump says Republicans face equally tough fight in House and Senate midterms

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that Republicans are facing an equally hard fight in both the Senate and the House in the midterms, as he is heading to Alaska to headline a rally for Senator Dan Sullivan in Wasilla.

When asked about the Republican chances, Trump said that historically it has been difficult for the sitting President in midterms. “I would say equal,” Trump told reporters. Since 1934, only on three occasions has a sitting President gained in midterms. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Democrats gained nine House seats in 1934, while Bill Clinton's party picked up four in 1998 and George W. Bush's Republicans gained eight in 2002.

"When you have a sitting president... no matter how good they seem to be, they're at a big disadvantage, tremendous disadvantage," he said.

"But I'm doing a tour right now, and I'm doing rallies. The level of enthusiasm for the Republican Party is way up."

Though election analysis, Decision Desk HQ projects Democrats as favourites to win both chambers, with a 77 per cent chance of winning the House. It projects 235 in the House for Democrats and a 56 per cent probability of victory, projecting a 51-49 majority.

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“I’m right now going to Alaska to try and help Dan Sullivan. That’s a long way away,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for the trip on Tuesday. “I would only do it if I thought he was good. And he’s very good. And so, I’m going to Alaska to help Dan Sullivan, and then I’m stopping in numerous places.”

Trump's first midterm resulted in a divided Congress as voters delivered a mixed verdict on his first two years in office. Republicans lost 41 House seats but gained two in the Senate. Trump is on a campaign blitz right now. Trump has held 8 campaign rallies so far in October 2026, with at least 8 more formally announced or scheduled on his immediate itinerary, amid certain media reports claiming vacant seats at Trump rallies in Ohio, Texas, and Alabama, despite Republican assertion of “sold out”. Trump and the GOP have aggressively pushed back against the narrative, accusing the media of fabricating "fake news" to downplay Republican momentum.