President Trump is traveling to Georgia on July 22, 2026, for a campaign rally. Georgia has two big races this year: a U.S. Senate seat and a governor's race, and both are too close to call, NPR reported.

Trump is campaigning more this year than he did during the same period in 2018, his first midterm election as president. Through July, he has made more campaign trips than he did over the same months in 2018, according to NPR. He has already campaigned with about a dozen candidates in toss-up races.

Trump's endorsements in Republican primaries have been nearly unbeatable. Candidates he backed in 2026 GOP primaries won 220 out of 227 races, a 97% win rate, according to Ballotpedia. The tally covers the entire primary season.

White House chief of staff Suzie Wiles explained the plan on "The Mom View" podcast. She said the strategy is to make Trump a big part of races further down the ballot — like House and local races — and to turn out people who vote only sometimes but tend to support Trump, NPR reported. That is different from what some past presidents have done. Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) said George W. Bush knew in 2006 that his presence would not help in Dent's district, so Bush stayed away.

Trump's approval rating in 2026 is lower than it was in 2018. In 2018, Republicans lost control of the House, with Democrats gaining a net 40 seats. Trump himself has warned that Democrats could win in the 2026 midterms, pointing to the historical pattern of the president's party losing seats, The Hill reported in February.

Trump's rally schedule has taken him to competitive areas across the country. He held a rally at Rockland Community College with Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who is among the most vulnerable House Republicans. In May, he went to The Villages, Florida. On June 30, he held what Al Jazeera called "a rally like none other," where he announced the 2026 Republican midterm convention.

In Florida, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) is the candidate Trump endorsed for governor. The May rally in The Villages was part of that effort.

Redistricting has also changed the landscape. Redistricting is when electoral maps are redrawn, usually after a court ruling or a new census. NPR reported in May that Republicans redrew maps after a court ruling, leading to big losses for Democrats, NPR reported.

As of mid-July, Trump was expected to focus on election claims in a primetime address, Atlanta News First reported. That suggests disputes over how elections are run will stay part of his message.

The big question is whether Trump's lower approval rating and busy campaign schedule will lead to a different result than 2018. His team is betting that having the president campaign directly and turning out irregular voters can beat the usual midterm pattern, which tends to cost the president's party seats. The other option, as Dent pointed out, is a president who sees that his presence might hurt and lets others do the campaigning. The Georgia rally will be the next sign of which path Trump is taking.