Trump reverses decision to cancel Kansas and Iowa rallies ahead of midterms

US President Donald Trump has reversed his decision to cancel two in-person rallies in Kansas and Iowa ahead of the midterm elections. The rallies were said on Friday to be "back on", at a time when polls suggest the races in the previous Republican strongholds could go down to the wire.

On Thursday, just five days before election day, the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced the president would no longer host the Kansas and Iowa rallies and would instead participate in "a large number of tele-rallies". The RNC claimed it felt it was in a "strong position" in Kansas and Iowa.

But on Friday morning, a source familiar with the matter said the rallies were "back on" and had been rearranged to accommodate the 19 tele-rallies Trump is also participating in.

With control of the US Congress on the line, next week's midterm elections amount to a referendum on Trump. He has repeatedly urged voters to pretend he is himself on the ballot, as his approval ratings continued to decline. Democrats are hoping to capitalise on growing discontent with Trump to retake the US House of Representatives, and also the Senate.

It is unclear whether Trump anticipated rearranging the Kansas and Iowa rallies, or if they were unexpectedly re-added to his schedule.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that he believed Republicans would have "a strong Tuesday night", and did not feel he had to go to Kansas. But he lashed out at a Reuters reporter who asked whether the initial change of plans was because he was sick of travelling across the country.

"Oh, you're sick to ask that question. You are sick," Trump told the reporter, accusing him of being "way out of shape" and calling him "disgusting". A day later, the cancelled rallies in Kansas and Iowa were back on the schedule.

Despite the statements of confidence from Trump and the RNC, Democrats have grown increasingly confident in recent months that they might flip seats in traditionally red states, in part because many voters are disgruntled with Trump's handling of the cost of living, exacerbated by his war on Iran.

In a Guardian/Harris poll of roughly 2,000 adults, most respondents said the cost of living and government corruption were the top issues heading into next week's election, mirroring findings from other polls.

"I'm not going to Kansas because [Republican senator Roger Marshall] is doing very well," Trump claimed on Thursday. But polls show a slim margin between the Republican and Democratic Senate candidates in Kansas, which has not sent a Democrat to the US Senate in 96 years, and Democrats have a small edge over Republicans in the Iowa gubernatorial and Senate races.

Trump's tele-rallies, taking place on Saturday, will target 19 states, including those with competitive Senate races such as Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and South Carolina, as well as states with competitive House or gubernatorial races such as Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.