Fresh off his visit to Texas and Oklahoma, President Donald Trump rallied supporters in Mobile, Alabama, on Friday night. It was the latest stop on a swing through deep-red states to boost midterm election turnout among Republican voters and thank them for their support, amid low approval ratings for the president.
Trump said he he wanted to “pay respect” to his supporters and announced plans to return to the state next week for the Georgia-Alabama college football game.
In his remarks, Trump touted the economy, defended the Iran war and again told voters to pretend that he is on the ballot.
Gerald Herbert/AP Photo
“When I’m not on the ballot, we don’t do well. … When I’m on the ballot, we kill everybody,” he said. “So just close your eyes and pretend I’m on the ballot.”
Trump acknowledged higher oil prices amid the war with Iran, but downplayed it as a “small price” to pay to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. He also said prices would likely drop after midterm elections, which is when he predicted the Iran war will “probably” end.
“But remember about the oil: You’re paying a price, but boy, is that a small price than what it would be if these lunatics were allowed to have a nuclear weapon and used it on Mobile, Alabama,” Trump said.
Gerald Herbert/AP Photo
Trump won Alabama three times: by 27.7 points in 2016, 25.5 points in 2020 and 30.5 points in 2024.
In his remarks Friday, the president also nodded to his history with Mobile, a city that holds political significance for him. In August 2015, at his first rally in the city, then-Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama publicly endorsed him– support that became a key moment on Trump’s path to the Republican nomination.
“I don’t know if you know. It sort of all began here,” Trump said.
Alex Brandon/AP
On Thursday, Trump explained why he is spending time in states he has carried easily.
“I’m going because you have to thank these states that are with you 1,000%,” Trump said. “And I haven’t been there in a while, and I want to just thank them.”
According to an AP-NORC poll, Trump’s job approval rating stands at a record-low over both of his terms as president at 31%, with 69% of Americans disapproving.
Mobile was redrawn after mid-decade redistricting to be in Alabama’s 1st Congressional District. The redrawn district, favoriting Republicans, would have voted for Trump in 2024 by around 40 points.
Trump came back to Mobile after winning the 2016 election and held an event at Ladd-Peebles Stadium as part of his post-election “thank you” tour.
Rep. Barry Moore, now the Republican nominee for Senate, first backed Trump at the 2015 rally when Trump was running in a crowded presidential primary field.
Rep. Barry Moore questions Special Counsel Jack Smith as he testifies during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on January 22, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Al Drago/Getty Images
“President Trump knows how important it is to have rock-solid conservatives representing Alabama in Washington and Montgomery, and I’m happy to have him visit our state so close to this critical midterm election,” Moore said on social media.
A Republican National Committee official made the case that Mobile was chosen partly for its reach beyond Alabama. The Mobile-Pensacola media market covers the western Florida Panhandle. The RNC said it expects the rally to energize voters and generate coverage in both states.
Several other lawmakers joined Trump at the rally, including GOP Sens. Tommy Tuberville, running for governor, and Katie Britt. Former Rep. Jerry Carl, the GOP nominee in the solidly Republican 1st District that now includes Mobile, called the visit a “great honor.”
The House seat to watch
The race to watch in Alabama is the state’s 2nd Congressional District. There, Republican state Rep. Rhett Marques, who is set to speak Friday, is challenging Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures.
The district’s lines changed after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais weakened the Voting Rights Act. Following that ruling, Alabama reinstated its 2023 congressional map, which federal courts had previously found discriminatory against Black Alabamians.
Figures won the seat in 2024 with 54.6% of the vote under a court-drawn map. Now the Cook Political Report calls him the “clear underdog,” and ABC News rates the race as likely Republican. It is one of several contests that could help decide control of the House.
After Alabama, the president will rally Saturday in Ohio, which is the center of a competitive Senate race between incumbent GOP Sen. Jon Husted and former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat.
After stumping for Texas GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton on Thursday, Trump will return to the Lone Star state on for a rally in San Antonio.
Trump’s return to Texas signals Republicans’ worries about the Senate race, where Paxton is running in a toss-up race against Democrat James Talarico.
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