Trump campaigns in Arizona and Montana on 2nd day of Western swing to help boost GOP candidates

BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. (AP) — President Donald Trump's midterm roadshow to rally the GOP stopped Wednesday in swing-state Arizona and was headed next to a Republican-leaning U.S. House district in Montana.

The visits come as the Republican president works to bolster his party in Nov. 3 elections that will determine control of Congress, and they follow stops earlier this week in Ohio and Alaska.

In Bullhead City, Arizona, soaring music played as the former Qatari jet now serving as Air Force One flew low over an airport where supporters awaited Trump in the heat. The plane circled around and landed moments later. The president, wearing his signature red baseball cap, emerged with a wave and a fist bump and slowly descended the stairs as speakers blasted Lee Greenwood's “God Bless the USA," the song that marks Trump's entrance at campaign events.

Air Force One, now wearing Trump's new red, white and blue paint scheme, and the Black Mountains filled the background as Trump started speaking.

“We want to say a very special hello to Arizona and Bullhead City,” Trump said.

Trump is in Arizona to rally support for Rep. Andy Biggs, who is seeking to defeat incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Republicans running in the state's two competitive U.S. House districts, Jay Feely and Rep. Juan Ciscomani, skipped the event.

Afterward, Trump is set to travel to Western Montana's 1st District to try to boost Aaron Flint, a former aide to retiring Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, who served as Interior secretary in Trump's first-term Cabinet.

Trump has kept up a brisk pace of hour-plus-long rallies — new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia called it a “midterm blitz” — in his effort to stem expected Republican losses and fight a historical trend in which the president's party typically loses seats in elections halfway through their term in the White House.

Arizona stands out as the lone swing state among the president's recent stops, though the airport rally will be in an area of the state known as a Republican stronghold. His other visits so far in October have taken him into traditionally solid Republican territory — Alabama, Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas — as he weathers low approval ratings, rising costs and the Iran war.

With under three weeks left in the campaign, the Western swing comes as Trump's party has begun retreating from a handful of battleground U.S. House races and Democrats aim to raise money for candidates who seemed like long shots earlier this year.

The shifting money in the final weeks of midterm campaigns reflects an increasingly defensive posture by Republicans, who have already trimmed their expectations in U.S. Senate races, and new aggression from Democrats, who are trying to capitalize on Trump’s low public approval.

Trump twice won Arizona, in 2016 and 2024, but lost the state in 2020. Montana's 1st District is slightly less Republican overall than the state, which voted for Trump by double digits in each of his three presidential campaigns.

Biggs, of Arizona, has been a stalwart ally of the president and assisted Trump's attempt to block certification by the House of Trump's 2020 election defeat. A one-time head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, he's represented a safe GOP seat since winning election in 2016.

He faces Hobbs, who narrowly defeated Republican Kari Lake in the governor's race four years ago in a state that has increasingly elected Democrats to statewide office.

In Montana, Flint won the president's and Zinke's endorsement during the June primary. An Army veteran and talk-radio host, Flint assails progressive Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as part of his campaign.

Flint's opponent is Sam Forstag, a Democratic labor union leader and Forest Service smokejumper, a specialized firefighter who gets to fires by aircraft and parachute.

Catalini reported from Morrisville, Pennsylvania.

People cheer as President Donald Trump arrives at Laughlin Bullhead International Airport for a campaign rally, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Bullhead, Ariz. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Laughlin Bullhead International Airport for a campaign rally, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Bullhead, Ariz. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Air Force One with President Donald Trump aboard flys past before landing for a campaign rally at the Laughlin Bullhead International Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Bullhead City, Ariz. (AP Photo/John Locher)

President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at Harry Reid International Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nev. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

ROME (AP) — Kylian Mbappé became the youngest player with 100 Champions League appearances when he reached the century mark at age 27 in Real Madrid’s match at Roma on Wednesday.

And he celebrated the mark by scoring a first-half equalizer to make it 1-1 at halftime.

Lionel Messi had set the previous record at age 28 against Roma in September 2015.

Mbappé lined up at center forward in coach José Mourinho ’s starting lineup for the match at the Stadio Olimpico and his 72nd Champions League goal moved him ahead of former Madrid player Raúl González into fifth place on the competition's career scoring list.

He also scored Madrid’s opener in a 2-1 victory over Inter Milan last month.

Mbappé made his Champions League debut as a 17-year-old with Monaco in September 2016.

Mbappé led the Champions League scoring chart last season with 15 goals, including the second-fastest hat trick in competition history against Olympiacos when he netted three goals in six minutes and 42 seconds.

See AP’s full soccer coverage here

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe gestures with his teammate Jude Bellingham after scoring his side's first goal during a Champions League opening phase soccer match between Roma and Real Madrid, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct.14, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe challenges for the ball with Roma's Gianluca Mancini during a Champions League opening phase soccer match between Roma and Real Madrid, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct.14, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe scores his side's first goal during a Champions League opening phase soccer match between Roma and Real Madrid, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct.14, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)