WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump joined tele-rallies Monday night for two Republican candidates: Darlene Graham Nordone of South Carolina and Michael Alfonso of Wisconsin. Alfonso is the son-in-law of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and is running for Congress.
The calls are part of a broader strategy Trump has employed across two election cycles, using phone appearances to support down-ballot Republicans. Since returning to office in January 2025, Trump has participated in at least 16 such tele-rallies, with 14 occurring after April of this year.
James Blair, Trump's top political aide, said the president conducted more than 60 tele-rallies during the 2024 election cycle and dozens more ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Blair said the phone appearances are easier to execute than in-person rallies.
Many of those calls previously went unannounced. "We just don't broadcast it. Never have," Blair said. In recent weeks, however, the White House has begun listing the evening tele-rallies on the president's public schedule, though they are not live-streamed on official White House channels.
Blair took a leave of absence from his role as White House deputy chief of staff earlier this year to manage Trump's outside political operation. He said the shift in scheduling visibility stems from his departure — he no longer gets asked to keep the events off the public schedule.
Peter Loge, a professor at George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, criticized the inclusion of campaign events on the White House's official schedule. Loge, who directs the Project on Ethics in Political Communication, said Trump has a history of mixing politics, self-interest and government, and that scheduling political events on the official calendar exemplifies his approach to the presidency — treating the White House as personal property rather than a borrowed institution.
Trump has sometimes joined multiple tele-rallies for the same candidate. Rep. Barry Moore, an Alabama Republican running for the U.S. Senate, received separate calls from Trump in May and June. Trump also joined multiple tele-rallies on the same night, as he did Monday.
Whether tele-rallies deliver results is uncertain. Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican backed by Trump, lost his primary last week, days after the president called into a tele-rally to support his reelection bid.
