Trump to campaign in North Carolina rally with his handpicked Senate
nominee Michael Whatley
[September 16, 2026]
By BILL BARROW
President Donald Trump will travel to North Carolina on Wednesday to
campaign with Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley as the former
national party chairman tries to shore up his campaign against
Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.
The trip marks Trump’s first campaign rally since his unusual midterm
convention in Dallas. The president, despite voter frustrations over the
Iran war and his economic leadership, has promised dozens more trips
ahead of Election Day. Trump's involvement creates a balancing act for
Republicans like Whatley, who will depend on the president’s core
supporters to turn out while also trying to appeal to moderates and
disaffected conservatives unhappy with the direction of the country.
Whatley was the president’s pick for the Senate race and Trump’s pick to
lead the Republican National Committee before that. Republicans viewed
him as a strong recruit to hold the seat being left open by Sen. Thom
Tillis, who decided to retire after clashing with the president last
year. But Whatley, who is making his first bid for public office, has
trailed Cooper in fundraising in recent months and polling from over the
summer showed Cooper with at least a slight lead.
Trump has acknowledged the challenging landscape but believes his
presence will be a clear boost.
“In North Carolina, you have a little more difficult case, because
people don’t quite get it, but they’re going to find out,” Trump said
during his keynote speech in Dallas.
Democrats have not won a Senate contest in the state since 2008, and
Trump has carried North Carolina three times since. The seat is critical
to Democrats' effort to flip control of the Senate. Cooper was perhaps
Democrats’ best recruit this cycle, having never lost a statewide race
in North Carolina through four terms as attorney general and two terms
as governor.
Republican pollster Paul Shumaker, who worked for Tillis’s and North
Carolina Sen. Ted Budd’s campaigns, said Trump will energize Republicans
who may not be as excited about the campaign as Democrats. But he noted
that registered Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina are split
about evenly, while independent voters outnumber both. That cohort of
more than 3.5 million voters, he said, are more concerned about the
economy, an issue where Trump is weaker than he was in 2024, than with
crime or immigration, issues where North Carolina Republicans might
still have an advantage over Democrats.
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Michael Whatley, North Carolina senatorial candidate, greets
delegates as he takes the stage at the Republican convention in
Dallas, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
“They see the White House more focused on everything but the
economy,” Shumaker said. “So that narrative has to change to give
them a path here in North Carolina.”
Whatley, for his part, has not distanced himself from Trump. During
a brief speech in Dallas, he praised Trump’s agenda, especially the
tax cuts included in his “big beautiful bill” last year. But instead
of lavishing praise on the president himself, he spent most of his
time unloading on Cooper as soft on crime and bad for North
Carolinians’ wallets.
“Under Roy Cooper’s reign, North Carolina became the most expensive
state in the nation for health care costs,” he said, countering the
former governor’s emphasis on the economy under Trump, especially
gas and grocery prices.
Cooper’s campaign pushed back against Whatley’s criticisms and noted
that the Republican has faced scrutiny for recently having a
convicted sex offender offer the opening prayer at one of his
campaign events.
Whatley, meanwhile, is leaning heavily on Trump and national
Republican donors to reach voters on TV and online. According to
data from AdImpact, which tracks campaign advertising, total
Republican spending on the contest has topped $50 million, while
Democrats have spent almost $35.2 million, with Trump's MAGA Inc.
and other conservative PACs accounting for the overall Republican
advantage.
Cooper has no public events Wednesday but the state Democratic Party
plans a news conference aimed at keeping attention on inflation
under Trump.
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