Trump will hit campaign trail for 40 days to win mid-terms

DONALD TRUMP is to spend 40 days campaigning across America for the mid-term elections – more than either Barack Obama or George W Bush did while in office.

The US president has tasked his aides with getting him out of Washington DC and in front of voters as much as possible in the run-up to the crucial November vote, which threatens to tip the balance away from Republicans and severely hinder Mr Trump’s legislative programme.

Mr Trump’s 40 days on the road between Aug 1 to Nov 6 will make him the “most aggressive campaigner in recent presidential history”, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

Mr Bush, the former Republican president, spent 33 days travelling in each of his two mid-term election campaigns, while Mr Obama spent 36 and about 22 days.

The campaign blitz is the clearest sign yet that Mr Trump believes his personal charisma and record in office can help to swing races.

However it comes with political risks, leaving the president more politically vulnerable should the widely anticipated “blue wave” of Democratic support come to pass at the ballot box.

The mid-terms, which take place two years after every presidential election, see votes for all House of Representatives seats and a third of Senate seats, as well as state governors.

“The president’s objective this fall is to get more support in Congress so that he can keep winning on behalf of the American people. This means an ambitious campaign schedule unlike any previous president in recent history,” a source familiar with his thinking said.

Mr Trump will hold at least eight rallies and 16 fundraisers in up to 15 states in the coming weeks, according to a source. North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nevada, Kentucky and Tennessee are all expected to be visited.

Sources said that Mr Trump believes he can turn out the unusual coalition of supporters that swept him into the White House in 2016.

They also said the president was helping secure a record number of donations for his party.

The sources defined what success would look like for Mr Trump: adding seats in the Senate, where Republicans hold 51 and the Democrats 49; holding the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, and doing well in state governor races.