Trump, 80, resumes weekend rallies after fuming over fatigue reports

Donald Trump, who turned 80 this year, canceled weekend campaign rallies only to reverse course within a day after becoming furious over media reports suggesting fatigue was catching up with him, CNN reported Friday (local time).

Trump had originally called off in-person weekend rallies scheduled in Kansas and Iowa, but reversed the decision in less than a day and agreed to return to the campaign trail.

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump grew enraged at media coverage following the cancellation.

A string of reports noting the 80-year-old president's accumulated fatigue left Trump irritated, and the sudden reversal in plans followed as a result, according to the source.

CNN also noted that the episode illustrated how Republican campaign activities are subject to Trump's whims.

According to sources, the decision to cancel was made Thursday aboard Air Force One as Trump was en route to South Carolina for a rally. Some Republican candidates were reportedly thrown into confusion by the abrupt schedule change.

Among some Republican figures, there are also complaints that Trump's rallies are becoming more of a burden than a boost to their campaigns.

Trump announced during a rally in Florida that day that he would visit Kansas and Iowa after all.

"I thought this was my last rally. I thought I could finally get some rest," Trump said, according to Yonhap. "Doing 28 consecutive rallies like this is really tough."

Trump said he then received calls from Iowa and Kansas. "They asked, 'Could you do a small rally — about 50,000 people each?'" he said. When Trump asked whether it really mattered, he said he was told, "We just really want to win."

Trump said he was campaigning nationwide to "stop people who hate America and communists from taking over Congress," adding that "the Democratic Party has put forward the most extreme and dangerous radicals in American history as candidates in state after state."

Both Kansas and Iowa are traditional Republican strongholds where Trump won by margins of more than 10 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.

In the current midterm elections, however, Republican Senate candidates in those states are reportedly struggling more than expected.