Good Job, Bad PR: Trump Kicks Off Campaign Tour Ahead of Midterms

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Good Job, Bad PR: Trump Kicks Off Campaign Tour Ahead of Midterms.

It's the final stretch before the US congressional elections: just over a month ahead of the midterms, President Donald Trump is kicking off his campaign tour — crisscrossing the country to help his Republicans win. The problem: his own approval numbers are anything but impressive.

The midterm elections are seen as the first major test of Trump's second term. With the House of Representatives and the Senate up for grabs, they will inevitably also decide how voters rate the president's record so far.

Trump wants to bolster the Republicans

According to Handelsblatt, the US president leaves no doubt about his plan: he wants to help his Republicans win the crucial congressional elections — and is now ready to travel the country to do it.

Die Zeit sums up the dilemma in a headline: "Trump is doing a good job, but bad PR" — apparently a gap between the president's self-image and his effect on the electorate that is weighing down the Republican campaign.

Poor poll numbers as a liability

Trump is entering the heated stretch carrying a political millstone: his own favorability numbers are "in the basement," Handelsblatt writes. For his party's candidates, that is a tough starting position — midterms have traditionally also served as a referendum on the officeholder in the White House.

Whether the campaign tour can mobilize his base and still turn the polls around, the coming weeks will tell. One thing is certain: there will be no shortage of personal effort on Trump's part.