Trump Shifts to Phone Rallies as Early Voting Tops 43 Million
The president canceled weekend events in Iowa and Kansas to hold calls with voters across nearly two dozen states as the midterm election enters its final days.
By Lauren Foster ·
With five days left before Election Day, more than 43 million Americans have cast ballots early or returned mail ballots, according to an Associated Press analysis of voting data. That figure covers 47 states and Washington, D.C., and stands nearly 10 million above the total recorded at the same point in the 2022 midterm cycle. In states that report voter party affiliation, about 6.8 million Democrats and 5.2 million Republicans have voted early. Those numbers do not account for all early voters nationwide or indicate which candidates received their votes.
President Donald Trump canceled weekend rallies in Iowa and Kansas on Thursday to instead hold phone-based events. The Republican National Committee said the calls can reach voters in nearly two dozen states in the closing days of a midterm election that could cost the GOP control of Congress. Speaking from Michigan to Fox News Channel, Sen. Tim Scott, who chairs Senate Republicans' campaign arm, said Attorney General Todd Blanche was "acting expeditiously" to probe allegations that Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting another candidate on the Alaska ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent. Peltola denied Thursday that she knew anything about the efforts, first reported by the New York Times.
Early voting is running ahead of 2022 in several states with competitive Senate races. Texas had recorded more than 6.3 million early votes as of Wednesday, up from 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase. Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas have each posted advances of more than 30% over 2022. In South Carolina, where voters are choosing a successor to the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, early voting is up 83%.
Two legal filings overnight asked federal judges to stop the Justice Department from demanding that election workers remove voters or segregate ballots, and from threatening election workers with prosecution for counting ballots that the Trump administration alleges were sent to noncitizens. A group including the League of Women Voters that is challenging the administration's collection and analysis of state voter data asked for a temporary restraining order. Another coalition that includes California workers filed a new lawsuit alleging that federal threats to election workers "significantly risk interfering with the lawful administration of the ongoing 2026 midterm elections and the counting of ballots in accordance with federal and state law."
The United States scrapped plans for a "family photo" with participants at the G20 foreign ministers meeting on Friday in Atlanta after several European diplomats objected to being photographed with Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, and threatened to walk out of it. That's according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The officials said Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to pull down the planned photograph late Thursday after determining that controversy over the posed event would be a distraction.
The Vatican confirmed Friday that Pope Leo XIV submitted a mail-in ballot in Chicago ahead of the midterm elections. The Holy See press office said the Chicago-born pontiff, formerly Robert Prevost, "has exercised his right to vote as an United States citizen" and has done so "whenever he was eligible to do so." The statement said he had also voted while living in Peru whenever he was eligible.
