Trump offers farmers $8bn aid as midterm campaign moves to North Carolina
Donald Trump announced $8bn in economic aid for farmers during a campaign rally in Kansas on Monday night, with two weeks to go until the U.S. midterm elections.
The announcement came at a rally outside Wichita attended by about 5,000 supporters, where Trump was campaigning for first-term Senator Roger Marshall. The aid is intended for farmers hit by soaring diesel prices. A gallon of diesel costs nearly $6, nearly double the price from a year ago, The Guardian. In August, Trump had proposed reducing import tariffs to lower the price of beef.
Kansas has a Democratic governor, Laura Kelly, but no Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat there since 1932. The Senate's top Republican super PAC, an outside group that spends money to support candidates, pulled $71 million in advertising spending in North Carolina to funnel more money into the Kansas race.
Trump was scheduled to travel next to Greenville, North Carolina, on October 20 to campaign for Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. Whatley is running for an open seat, one with no incumbent on the ballot, against Roy Cooper, the former Democratic governor of North Carolina. The contest is described as tight, though Cooper has consistently led Whatley in polls, The Guardian.
North Carolina is the second stop in Trump's seven-day campaign blitz across states he won in 2024. Vice President JD Vance spoke alongside Whatley at a rally in Hendersonville, North Carolina, on Monday, October 19, according to WRAL. The 2026 U.S. midterm elections were two weeks away as of October 20.
