Trump rallies Arizona and Montana after Alaska campaign stop
Donald Trump rallies supporters in Arizona and Montana later today - the Trump rallies Arizona Montana leg of his travel - after spending the past 24 hours at a campaign stop in Alaska, where polling shows Democrats could flip a Senate seat.
Trump rallies Arizona and Montana after Alaska campaign stop
The Trump rallies Arizona Montana schedule comes later today, after the president spent the past 24 hours at a campaign stop in Alaska. The Alaska visit is being read as a sign of the Republican Party's recent polling problems, and it produced a series of headline-grabbing moments, from a pair of pardons to a false claim about Iran and a dispute over a video of a fatal tiger attack.
Alaska stop a sign of Republican polling worries
Trump campaigned in a state he carried by 14 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, yet the trip points to vulnerability. Alaska is one of several conservative-leaning states where Democrats have a chance of flipping a Senate seat amid voter dissatisfaction with the cost of living and the Iran war.
Polling shows Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola tied or slightly ahead of incumbent Republican senator Dan Sullivan. Trump's approval rating has fallen, hit by rising diesel and gasoline prices and a conflict in the Middle East that has proven deeply unpopular with voters.
The pattern of the trip fits a broader approach: Trump has been campaigning in conservative-leaning parts of competitive states, rather than in more politically diverse areas where more votes are up for grabs.
Pardons, mail voting and an Iran claim in Anchorage
During the Alaska visit, Trump pardoned two local repair shop owners who were convicted of violating the federal Clean Air Act for removing pollution controls on diesel engines.
He also encouraged Republicans to vote by mail - a process he has repeatedly sought to curtail and discredit.
On Iran, Trump repeated his false claim that Iran was close to a bomb when he launched the war, saying:
"they were two weeks away from having a nuclear weapon"
US intelligence agencies reported to Congress in 2025 that Iran had suspended its pursuit of nuclear weapons in 2003. In summer 2025 Trump ordered US bombing of Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities, which he later said had "obliterated" the country's nuclear program; eight months after that, he launched a full-scale war on Iran.
Sullivan, opening for Trump, acknowledged that Alaskans face "challenges" when it comes to energy costs. He told the crowd the Middle East conflict would pass, and argued the lasting fight was what he called national Democrats' war against Alaska oil, gas and jobs.
Tiger video draws family distress; press secretary question
While flying to Alaska, Trump posted video of a British man fatally mauled by a tiger with the caption "Don't ever mess with nature!". The footage showed William Chapman, 23, being fatally attacked by a tiger at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, and went to 13 million followers on Truth Social on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday morning, Trump posted an AI-generated video of himself grappling with a tiger, set to 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', which copies Chapman's pointing gesture and ends with him hugging the animal.
Chapman's family said "deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress" and posted a tribute describing him as a "bright, warm and engaging young man". They also questioned what part his "significant mental illness over a number of years" and prescribed strong medication played in the incident.
Separately, new press secretary Katie Zacharia declined to say whether she is licensed to practice law anywhere in the United States. Asked "Where did you pass the bar exam?" Zacharia just said: "I moved to China".
Also today: National Guard hearing and press ban ruling
Two other stories moved alongside the campaign travel.
A federal appeals court will hear arguments on Wednesday over whether National Guard members patrolling Washington, DC for more than 14 months should be sent home. Oral arguments are scheduled in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, months after it paused a lower court's ruling that the deployment was illegal.
Trump sent the guard into Washington, DC in August 2025 as part of what he called a crime-fighting mission, and the force rose to a peak of about 5,000 troops over the summer.
Its members have backed arrest operations, patrolled streets and neighborhoods and joined cleanup efforts. The administration says the deployment has contributed to a decrease in crime in the city, where crime was already on the decline. City officials and activists say the deployment is a waste of taxpayer money and has normalized the militarization of a major American city.
On the press access fight, a federal judge on Tuesday ordered the White House to continue allowing journalists from CNN, MS Now and Politico to access the building while their lawsuit plays out. The key points:
- District court judge Timothy Kelly had on 24 September granted a 14-day reprieve for the news organizations, which had been banned six days earlier over what Trump called their constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS.
- Kelly granted a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the 18 September 2026 decision to revoke the White House 'hard pass' press credentials of CNN, MS Now and Politico employees.
- The organizations filed a lawsuit on 21 September seeking to overturn the ban as a violation of their constitutional rights.
- During arguments at the E Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse, Kelly told a government lawyer his side had "a notice problem" that was "probably the biggest hurdle".
Attention now turns to Trump's rallies in Arizona and Montana later today, while the DC Circuit takes up the National Guard deployment arguments on Wednesday.
