Trump's Trials - Trump hits the road to campaign for GOP candidates ahead of the midterm elections

Episode Date: October 7, 2026

President Trump hits the campaign trail as Republicans look to rally turnout ahead of the midterms. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Trump's terms. I'm Scott Detrow. Every episode, we bring you one story from NPR's recent coverage of the 47th president. With a focus on ways his administration is pushing the boundaries of presidential power. Here's the latest from NPR. From NPR News, I'm Michelle Martin. President Trump's new helipad on the White House south lawn has been getting a lot of use lately. Trump is flying out of Washington more frequently, rallying with Republican candidates as the GOP tries to keep its majorities in Congress in next month's midterm elections. NPR White House correspondent Diba Shivram

has the story. In Ohio, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Alabama, Trump's rallies have, well, been classic Trump. He dances to the same songs, and he references the same stories he's been telling since 2015. He continues to blame Democrats for the economy, and he insists America is doing great. This is the golden age of America. We're doing numbers that nobody ever. thought were possible. Despite Trump not being on the ballot this year, he's telling voters to pretend that he is. But with just one month until voting ends, that might put Trump's party in a precarious position. Simply put, according to polling, the president is unpopular, and he continues to wait into topics that aren't doing his party any favors. For example, in Ohio last weekend, AI data

centers have been an issue dragging Republican candidate John Houston in his race against Democrat Sherrod Brown. Despite voters, on both sides of the aisle being opposed to data centers, Trump said this. We want them, look, there's so much money to be made for Ohio. You can't just turn them off. They'll go to China. And on high costs, the president isn't offering anything new. He's been telling voters that costs will come down for months. But war with Iran, which drove up prices, still has no end in sight. Here's Trump on Monday in Nebraska.

It's going to end very soon. Your prices are going to come tumbling. All your prices have been tumbling down. In fact, oil is less than it was under Biden, just so you understand. In the same rally, Trump said high costs from the war were a, quote, small price to pay to keep the country safe because Iran could, quote, take out a city, such as Los Angeles or San Diego. Trump says he plans to go to other states where Republicans are in close races like Alaska and Iowa to help GOP candidates because he insists that Republicans have been doing better since he started campaigning with them. Deepa Chiveram, NPR News, the White House. And before we wrap up, a thank you to our NPR Plus supporters who hear each show without sponsored messages and, of course, who help protect independent journalism.

If you are not a supporter yet, you can visit plus.npr.org to find out how you can get a ton of podcast perks across dozens of NPR shows, like bonus episodes, exclusive merchandise, and more. Again, that's plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. listening to Trump's Terms from NPR.