President Donald Trump is urging voters to support Republicans in the Nov. 3 congressional elections as though he were running, while a Fox News poll ranks living costs as their leading economic concern.
In the Oct. 9-12 survey, 59% of registered voters chose the cost of living as the country’s most important economic issue. Trump’s job approval stood at 36%, with 64% disapproving. Asked about their congressional vote or intended vote in their district, 54% chose the Democratic candidate and 45% the Republican. Fox News surveyed 1,202 registered voters and reported a 2.5-percentage-point margin of sampling error for the full sample.
“Please pretend I’m on the ballot,” Trump wrote to Kansas voters in an Oct. 19 Truth Social post. The Democratic National Committee had cited an earlier version of his appeal in an Oct. 16 statement, arguing that Republican candidates should answer for household costs. In a separate Reuters/Ipsos survey covered by EconoTimes, 49% chose a candidate’s position on the cost of living as the most important factor in their congressional vote.
Trump has also proposed replacing East Potomac Golf Links, a public course in Washington, with a design by golf course architect Tom Fazio. In an Oct. 18 announcement, he set Nov. 15 as the closure date and estimated that the new course would open about 15 months later. Trump said it would then be open to the public and bring jobs and economic benefits.
Golfers would lose access to East Potomac during the proposed closure. In its 2020 announcement of a lease covering that course and two others, the National Park Service said the operator would provide affordable public golf.
The proposed overhaul is being challenged in a lawsuit filed in February. U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes wrote in an Oct. 13 opinion that the National Park Service removed about 430 trees on Oct. 10. Her temporary order bars further work under the tree management plan through Oct. 26. Government lawyers said in an Oct. 16 filing that the broader renovation had not reached a final agency decision.
The Nov. 3 election follows the tree-plan order’s Oct. 26 expiry. Trump’s proposed course closure would begin Nov. 15.
