Sunday shows preview: Trump boosts midterm candidates in final stretch; Supreme Court opens new term

With a month until the midterm elections, President Trump is hitting the campaign trail in an effort to ramp up voter turnout across traditionally red states, as rising costs and a deeply unpopular Iran war leave the GOP scrambling to protect its majority in Congress.

Trump’s October campaign blitz will feature stops in Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio, Texas and Nebraska — Republican-friendly states that he comfortably won in 2024. The stops are part of the party’s strategy to replicate Trump’s 2024 success and voter turnout as the party grapples with Trump’s souring approval ratings ahead of November.

Several toss-up races have moved towards Democrats, indicating potential success for the party in November. The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report last week shifted the Senate races in Kansas and South Carolina towards Democrats, while 10 GOP House seats are now looking more likely to flip.

Vice President Vance is also hitting the campaign trail, with plans to head to Alaska for a midterm rally amid the red state’s highly competitive Senate race.

The campaign push comes as Republicans contend with voter concerns over the economy and the ongoing war with Iran, which has caused energy prices to surge and has become a point of tension for some GOP candidates.

Senate nominee Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) publicly broke from Trump over the conflict, saying Iowans “shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran.”

Trump, meanwhile, has increasingly tied the end of the war and economic relief to the election. While he has floated a prediction that the conflict will end after the November elections, he told reporters at a campaign rally in Oklahoma that he thinks it’s possible the war could cost him the midterm elections.

The Supreme Court is also taking center stage as the justices prepare to begin a new term Monday, with major cases involving immigration, gun rights, voting and religious freedom on the docket.

Justice Samuel Alito will make a rare Sunday show appearance this weekend on “Fox News Sunday” alongside Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Immigration is poised to remain a major issue before the justices, with prominent challenges to the Trump administration’s policies among the cases the court has agreed to hear, including the legality of Trump’s mandatory detention policy .

In a major expansion of the government’s immigration powers, the administration argues it can lawfully detain individuals without bond if they are found to have entered the country unlawfully, even if they have lived on U.S. soil for years.

The Trump administration also made a major push on artificial intelligence this week, with the president signing an executive order alongside leading tech executives focused on the development of AI and renaming it “superintelligence.”

As part of a series of other AI initiatives, the administration launched America.gov , an AI-powered portal intended to streamline access to federal services.

Executives from technology giants, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and xAI founder Elon Musk, all made a voluntary pledge outlining commitments surrounding the development of the advanced technology. Trump described the agreement as “morally binding.”

Elsewhere, a high-profile sexual assault investigation at Cornell University and Tennessee’s botched attempt to execute convicted murderer Christa Pike have dominated headlines.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that a 20-year-old Cornell student, labeled Jane Doe, was drugged and gang raped by seven men at a fraternity house in 2024.

The case has drawn renewed national attention following a civil lawsuit and questions surrounding the initial investigation, which concluded without criminal charges. Thomas Guiffra, an attorney representing the Cornell Jane Doe, will appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” this Sunday.

Meanwhile, Tennessee officials are facing scrutiny following two failed lethal injection attempts that have left death row inmate Pike is currently on life support and in critical condition.

Pike was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 after admitting to murdering her 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slemmer with her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp.

The botched execution attempts prompted Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) to halt the state’s remaining executions for the year and order an independent investigation.

See the full list of guests on the Sunday morning news shows below:

NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday”: Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.).

CBS News’s “Face the Nation”: Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).

CNN’s “State of the Union”: National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Thomas Giuffra.

Fox News’s “Fox News Sunday”: Attorney General Todd Blanche, Justice Samuel Alito.

NBC News’s “Meet the Press”: Rahm Emanuel, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), Steve Kornacki.

Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures”: National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Miranda Devine, Ben Domenech, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).