Trump Makes Final Push to Rally Voters on the Eve of Midterm Elections

U.S. President Donald Trump made a final attempt on Monday, November 2, to mobilize his base ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections, which he called the most important "of our lifetime" and which could see a Democratic wave sweep across Congress.

In a strange and rambling speech delivered in front of a massive Washington reflecting pool whose painstakingly slow renovation he oversaw, the U.S. president labeled opposition candidates "extremists" and "dangerous."

"I have kept more promises than I made," the 80-year-old billionaire added, despite polls showing Americans faulting him for failing to lower the cost of living and launching a war in Iran, contradicting his presidential campaign pledges.

Before and after addressing the vote that will prove decisive for the remainder of his term, Donald Trump spoke at length about various construction projects in Washington.

Read also: How Donald Trump tripped up over Washington's reflecting pool

He displayed photographs of the work on the pool adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial, detailing construction materials extensively.

The project is viewed by his opponents as emblematic of an erratic presidency out of touch with reality.

For their part, Democrats are also throwing everything into the fight to wrest control of Congress from Republicans on Tuesday.

Read also: Midterms: What a Democratic majority in Congress would mean for Trump and Republicans

To capture the Senate, they are pinning hopes especially on victories by James Talarico in Texas and Adam Hamilton in Kansas, who are holding rallies Monday in these traditionally conservative states as the culmination of a tense campaign.

Historically, the party occupying the White House loses ground in Congress during midterm elections, which are often seen as a referendum on the president.

Are Democratic Candidates the Favorites?

Democrats are thus favored to win back the majority in the House of Representatives, where all seats are up for election.

The battle for the Senate, where 35 of the 100 seats are contested, remains uncertain. However, a Sunday poll by Siena College for The New York Times shows Democratic candidates currently favored in most battleground states, particularly Texas and Maine.

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Gaining control of the House would grant Democrats the authority to launch congressional investigations into allegations of corruption under the Trump administration, the Epstein files, and other explosive matters.

A Democratic-majority Senate could block presidential nominations, particularly in the event of a Supreme Court vacancy.

Democrats nevertheless remain cautious, as past polls have underestimated the mobilization of Trump's base.

Nonetheless, a majority of Americans are disillusioned. An NBC News poll on Sunday revealed that 60% disapprove of the president's performance.

Scorched-Earth Politics

Confronted with this contested record, Republicans appear to have recently dropped any mention of Donald Trump from their campaign advertisements, according to an AFP analysis of 212,000 ads aired across Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram, etc.).

In January, one-third of ad spending in support of Republicans went to spots mentioning the president. By early October, that figure plummeted to just over 2%.

Read also: 2026 Midterms recap: "If the polls are right," or Democrats' anxious optimism

The campaign on the right was also characterized by scorched-earth tactics, frequently depicting Democrats as dangerous "communists" and deploying identity politics targeting immigrants and Muslims.

In recent months, the U.S. president had already labeled Democrat Abdul El-Sayed a "terrorist"—who would become the first Muslim senator if elected in Michigan.

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In this northern industrial state, the campaign was upended Sunday when Democrat Haley Stevens—defeated by Abdul El-Sayed in the primary—endorsed Republican candidate Mike Rogers, much to the delight of Donald Trump and the dismay of Democrats.

Reflecting the high stakes, a record 57 million people—a majority of them registered Democrats—have already cast early ballots.

Around $11 billion has been spent on advertising campaigns for these elections, largely funded by private mega-donors such as Elon Musk, who contributed nearly half a billion dollars.

With AFP