USAupdated 1h ago3 min read
Archive photo · 2 June 2025Donald Trump Holds Mar-a-Lago Virtual Rallies After Appeals Court Rejects California Ballot Bid
“returns to the campaign trail on Sunday with rallies in Iowa and Kansas”
“President Donald Trump held a flurry of virtual rallies Saturday”
Photo: Daniel Torok / US federal government, Public domain · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Trump plans multiple virtual campaign rallies from Mar-a-Lago estate. He resumes in-person rallies in Iowa and Kansas before the midterms.
Save coverage image
Rallies and legal setbacks
President Donald Trump held virtual rallies from Mar-a-Lago and campaigned for Republican candidates days before Election Day as his administration faced legal setbacks over efforts to intervene in state-run elections.
Trump took part in at least four telerallies targeting voters in states including Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the Secret Service described a “heightened threat environment” as missile defense systems were deployed near his Florida estate and at the recently renamed Donald J. Trump International Airport.
A federal appeals court rejected the administration’s latest bid to have California set aside about 20,000 ballots from voters it alleges may be noncitizens, and a separate judge barred the Justice Department from threatening election workers with prosecution to force them to halt ballot processing.
Trump would return to the campaign trail on Sunday with rallies in Iowa and Kansas, and 35 Senate seats and all 435 House seats were on the ballot on Tuesday.
Republicans held a 53-47 Senate majority and a narrow edge in the House, and losing either chamber would let Democrats block Trump’s agenda for his final two years in office.
Campaign trail and disputes
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Saturday that Democrats will run Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “out of town” if his party retakes control of the House following the midterm elections.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter told Fox News, “I hesitate to give a final answer, but I think probably the Supreme Court’s next on this one,” as the administration pressed a fight over thousands of California mail ballots.
In Alaska, federal prosecutors investigated whether aides to Democratic challenger Mary Peltola helped recruit a retired schoolteacher, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., to run because he shares a name with Senator Dan S. Sullivan, and the US Justice Department asked a federal court to prevent the certification of Alaska's vote if the incumbent senator loses narrowly.
Voters in Anchorage, Alaska, had mixed views, including Ames Tonneson saying, “I am concerned that the longer it takes for those votes to be counted, the more shenanigans will happen,” and Art Paul saying, “It’s part of the process,” and “And you gotta be patient.”
Security, turnout, and stakes
In Palm Beach, Florida, the Town of Palm Beach said South Ocean Boulevard closed ahead of Trump’s expected return to Mar-a-Lago, with the security closure beginning at 5 a.m. Friday on South Ocean Boulevard or State Road A1A.
More than 52 million Americans had already voted in person or by mail, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, and the figure was a record for a midterm and up from nearly 46 million who voted before Election Day in 2022.
Nearly 50 million Americans had already voted as Trump took part in a telerally blitz in the final weekend before Election Day, and early voting had jumped in key battleground states as candidates began a final weekend of midterm campaigns.
Gas prices remained elevated ahead of Election Day, with the average national cost for a gallon of gasoline at $4.18 on Saturday and the average price for a gallon of diesel at $6.31.
Losing either chamber would let Democrats block Trump’s agenda for his final two years in office and launch investigations of an administration that had faced largely compliant Republican majorities.
