President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will spend the final 30 days before the November midterm elections campaigning across 35 competitive congressional and Senate races, pledging to personally stump for Republican candidates in tight contests. Speaking at a White House dinner in the Rose Garden attended by GOP members of Congress, Trump said he intends to visit each of the 35 locations and called explicitly for his supporters to vote as though he himself were on the ballot.

Among the races Trump cited are Sen. Dan Sullivan's re-election bid in Alaska and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico. Several House Republicans who attended Wednesday's White House event face competitive November contests, including Reps. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, Tom Barrett of Michigan, and Mike Collins of Georgia. Trump made clear he would focus his travel on candidates in genuine jeopardy, saying he would not campaign for incumbents leading by wide margins.

Trump's political operation, the super PAC MAGA Inc., currently holds more than $400 million in its war chest according to the latest campaign finance filings, and Republican candidates in close races are hoping a portion of those funds will be directed their way. Earlier Wednesday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that while he personally is not on the ballot, he views the midterms as an opportunity to support his party, framing his planned travel in explicitly partisan terms.

At the same time, a significant number of Republican candidates are keeping their distance from an upcoming two-day GOP convention scheduled to begin September 9 in Dallas, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance are both expected to speak. A Politico survey of more than 70 Republican candidates and party officials found most were not planning to attend, with some citing prior commitments and others expressing concern that proximity to Trump's rhetoric could damage their standing with independent voters. Rep. Tom Barrett, one of the House members in a competitive race who attended Wednesday's White House dinner, told Politico he felt he would be more useful in his district than at the convention.

The Dallas convention, described by critics within the party as a 'waste of time' and dubbed 'Trump-a-palooza,' is the first GOP midterm convention in American history and carries entry costs ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 per member. Proceeds are directed to a nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors. The event's combination of steep ticket prices, lack of formal party business, and Trump's unpredictable public statements has left many vulnerable Republicans weighing whether attendance poses more political risk than reward ahead of what is expected to be a contentious midterm cycle.