Trump rallies in Port Huron for Rogers in tight Senate race

President Donald Trump took his midterm campaign to Michigan on Sunday, rallying for Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers in Port Huron, a city of fewer than 30,000 people on the St. Clair River, across the water from Sarnia, Ontario. Reuters reported it was Trump's first campaign stop in the state this year. It came one day after former President Barack Obama campaigned in Detroit for Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

The contest between Rogers, a former congressman, and El-Sayed, a physician and former public health official, is one of a handful that could decide which party controls the Senate. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take over, Fox News reported. The Cook Political Report lists the race as a toss-up on its race page.

What happened in Port Huron on Sunday?

The rally took place at McMorran Place, the city's 66-year-old sports and entertainment complex. By late morning, thousands of supporters had filled downtown streets, some after driving across the state, MLive reported. City Manager James Freed told MLive the city learned of the visit on Oct. 16. "This is a very heavy lift for a community this size," he said.

A lineup of Michigan Republicans spoke first, according to MLive and Fox News, including state House Speaker Matt Hall, gubernatorial nominee Rep. John James, Rep. Lisa McClain and state party Chairman Jim Runestad. Hall urged the crowd to "ignore the fake polls," MLive reported. James called El-Sayed the "Midwest Mamdani," and McClain called him "dangerous," according to MLive. El-Sayed calls himself a capitalist and rejects the socialist label, MLive reported.

Rapper Nicki Minaj flew to Michigan with Trump on Air Force One. Newsweek reported that she was at the rally and that Trump pointed her out and asked her to stand, after a crude comment about her appearance. Minaj also addressed the crowd, praising Trump and urging voters to elect Republican candidates, Newsweek reported. "I am so honored to be working with this president," she said. Earlier Sunday, she told the Washington Examiner that this midterm is "the most important of our lifetimes," MLive reported.

Rogers asked supporters to turn out. "We will bring back 200,000 jobs that Democrats have chased out of the state," he said, according to MLive.

What did Trump say in his speech?

Trump framed the trip as a fight over the Senate majority and spent much of his time on Rogers' opponent. He also invoked the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, linking the race to United Flight 93, and brought the parents of Todd Beamer, a Michigan native who died on that flight, onto the stage, AP reported. AP photos showed a protester being removed during the speech.

Before the rally, Trump told FOX 2 Detroit that a tariff deal with Canada was in the works and might come before the election, though it could take months. "I'm going to make a great deal," he said. Leaving Washington, he told reporters that Rogers "is apple pie," according to Fox News.

On El-Sayed, Trump told the crowd he had come "to keep a jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator," AP reported, and he said that if El-Sayed wins he should have to pass through a metal detector to enter the Senate, according to The Independent. Trump offered no evidence for the claim. El-Sayed has repeatedly denied any tie to the group. "I have never been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. I never will be," he told Fox News' Bret Baier on Friday, according to CNN. NewsCubby's companion story looks at the remarks and the reaction in detail.

**Related:** What Trump said about Abdul El-Sayed in Port Huron, and how El-Sayed has responded

Why did Trump choose Port Huron?

Port Huron is the seat of St. Clair County, a Republican-leaning area at the base of Michigan's Thumb that Trump carried with more than 66% of the vote in 2024, according to Fox News, citing Reuters. Local historian Andrew Kercher told MLive the choice brought to mind a president asking, "Where can I go that they'll like me?"

The city also sits beside one of the nation's busiest border crossings, at a time when Trump's tariffs have strained trade with Canada, AP noted. Rogers has kept some distance on the issue. "The automobile portion of these Canadian tariffs worries me a little bit," he said, according to Reuters.

Grand Valley State University political scientist Whitt Kilburn told MLive that rallies like this fire up a party's base, but that Democrats could also use clips in their ads. "It's just such a toss-up," he said.

How are the campaigns responding?

As of 5:50 p.m. ET, NewsCubby had not found a direct response from El-Sayed or his campaign to Sunday's speech. His X posts after the rally focused on working families and on Obama's visit. He had dared Trump to come to Michigan. "Donald, if you're watching, don't wuss out, man," he said earlier, according to AP.

Rogers' campaign account spent Sunday afternoon on X targeting Democrats rather than the rally itself, posting about Rep. Haley Stevens' CNN interview. "I'm for YOU. Abdul is only for himself," the post said. Stevens, who lost the August primary to El-Sayed, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that she was "on the team" but did not say directly whether she fully backs him, AP reported.

Each side has raised points against the other. Republicans cite a 2012 open letter El-Sayed signed backing Egypt's then-President Mohamed Morsi, CNN reported. CNN also noted that Rogers, as House Intelligence Committee chairman in 2012, told Reuters there were "moderate Muslim Brotherhood individuals we are going to have to reach out to"; on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Rogers said the host was "trying to twist this thing." El-Sayed, for his part, apologized after saying "hurt people hurt people" following an attack on a Detroit-area synagogue. "To anyone who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I'm really sorry," he said, according to AP.

What do the latest polls show?

Independent polls show a race within the margin of error.

- **Marist Poll**, Oct. 15–18: El-Sayed 50%, Rogers 48% among Michigan likely voters (margin of error ±4.3 points). Marist surveyed 1,185 registered voters by phone, text and online and applied a likely-voter weight. Among all registered voters, El-Sayed led 52% to 45% (±4.0). Independents who are likely to vote favored El-Sayed 50% to 44%. - **InsiderAdvantage**, Oct. 21–22: El-Sayed 47%, Rogers 46%, with 7% undecided, among 1,200 likely voters (±2.83 points). - **Fox News Poll**, Sept. 24–28: El-Sayed 50%, Rogers 49% among 1,028 likely voters (±3 points).

None shows a clear leader. Marist also found that 42% of Michigan likely voters approve of Trump's job performance and 57% disapprove, and that 44% call their congressional vote mainly a vote against Trump, compared with 18% who call it a vote for him.

Rogers lost Michigan's 2024 Senate race to Elissa Slotkin by less than half a point, Fox News reported, and AP noted that Republicans haven't won a Senate race in Michigan in more than three decades.

Why is Medicare for All at the center of the race?

El-Sayed supports Medicare for All, a single government-run health plan, and Rogers has made it a main line of attack. At the Oct. 21 debate, Rogers argued the plan "takes away your private health insurance," the Michigan Advance reported. He claimed 5 million Michiganders would lose coverage, that it would cost $7 trillion a year and that families would pay about $20,000 each in new taxes. NewsCubby has not independently verified those figures.

El-Sayed countered that Rogers "voted against expanding health insurance for kids" and "took a million dollars from big insurance," the Michigan Advance reported. WWMT reported that El-Sayed also accused Rogers of casting 19 votes to keep drug prices high. The United Auto Workers union has endorsed El-Sayed, the Michigan Advance reported, though Rogers points to a group of members called "UAW for Rogers."

In the Fox News Poll, 7 in 10 likely voters said the cost of living would be extremely important to their Senate vote, and that group backed El-Sayed by 13 points. Voters focused on immigration favored Rogers by 26 points.

Where do Rogers and Trump differ?

Rogers has embraced Trump's endorsement but split with him on some issues. On "Meet the Press," he said he wants the war with Iran and the trade fight with Canada to end, CNN reported, and asked "why not send somebody back that can work with… the president."

What we know

- Trump rallied for Rogers at McMorran Place in Port Huron on Oct. 25, the first visit by a sitting president to the city, according to MLive. - Trump repeated claims tying El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood without offering evidence. El-Sayed denies them. - Marist, InsiderAdvantage and Fox News polls show El-Sayed ahead by 1 to 2 points among likely voters, within each poll's margin of error. - Early in-person voting runs through Nov. 1, and Election Day is Nov. 3.

What we don't know yet

- Whether El-Sayed or Rogers will respond directly to Sunday's speech. Neither had done so on X as of 5:50 p.m. ET. - Whether new polls will show movement after the debates and the dueling Obama and Trump visits. NewsCubby found no new independent poll of the race as of 5:50 p.m. ET; the most recent, InsiderAdvantage, was taken Oct. 21–22. - Whether a tariff deal with Canada will come before Election Day, as Trump suggested. No deal had been announced as of 5:50 p.m. ET.

What happens next

Both campaigns will spend the final nine days working to turn out voters before early voting ends Sunday, Nov. 1. NewsCubby will update this story as campaigns and officials release new information.

*Credits: reporting from MLive, the Associated Press, Fox News, CNN, Reuters, FOX 2 Detroit, Newsweek, The Independent, the Washington Examiner (via MLive), the Michigan Advance, WWMT, the Cook Political Report, InsiderAdvantage, the Marist Poll and the Fox News Poll, plus public X posts by the El-Sayed and Rogers campaigns. NewsCubby articles are produced with AI assistance and reviewed by humans.*