Key facts
- Donald Trump will campaign in North Carolina on Wednesday for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley.
- Trump seeks to help Whatley close a polling gap against former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.
- A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Trump's approval rating at 35%.
- Democrats lead Republicans 44% to 37% on the generic congressional ballot.
- The national average for regular gasoline was $4.33 a gallon on Tuesday.
- Diesel reached a record $6.27 a gallon.
- Cooper led Whatley 49% to 38% among likely voters in a recent Elon University poll.
- 54% of North Carolina voters disapprove of Trump's job performance.
U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to campaign in North Carolina on Wednesday, marking his first major campaign stop since the Republican Party's midterm convention. The visit is part of a broader effort to frame the upcoming elections as a referendum on his presidency.
Trump's focus will be on supporting Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, who is trailing former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in polls. While Trump retains strong support among the Republican base, Whatley needs to appeal to North Carolina's significant bloc of swing and unaffiliated voters, who are reportedly concerned about affordability issues that have impacted Trump's standing with moderate voters.
Trump recently urged Republicans at a convention in Dallas to "pretend that I'm on the ballot," despite not seeking election himself, and has pledged to visit battleground states frequently before the November 3 elections.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll indicated Trump's approval rating had risen to 35%, a slight increase from 33%. However, Democrats held a 44% to 37% lead on the generic congressional ballot, the largest advantage for Democrats in the series since Trump's return to the White House in January 2025.
Rising fuel prices are contributing to affordability concerns, with the national average for regular gasoline at $4.33 a gallon and diesel reaching a record $6.27 on Tuesday, according to AAA.
The North Carolina Senate race is open following Republican Senator Thom Tillis's decision not to seek reelection. An Elon University poll showed Cooper leading Whatley 49% to 38% among likely voters, with 54% of North Carolina voters disapproving of Trump's job performance.
The White House indicated that Trump would use the North Carolina event to emphasize his administration's record on crime, a key theme for Whatley's campaign. However, Whatley faces the challenge of consolidating voters who supported Trump in 2024. An August Elon University poll found that 72% of Trump voters backed Whatley, while 10% supported Cooper and 14% were undecided. In contrast, Kamala Harris voters largely supported Cooper (93%).
Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll, noted that Trump's 2024 win was partly due to independents believing he would handle the economy better than Harris, but that many now feel disappointed, citing his policies as a reason for economic concerns.
Unaffiliated voters constitute about 40% of North Carolina's registered electorate. Veteran Republican strategist Paul Shumaker emphasized the necessity of winning these voters by addressing economic and affordability issues to keep the Senate race competitive.