The rally is one of many that Trump will hold in the final stretch of the campaign to the midterms,which will decide who controls the US Congress - and therefore the future direction of the country - along with the leadership of dozens of states.

But few races are as critical as the Senate battle for Pennsylvania,which the Democrats were hoping to win,potentially giving them the balance of power in the all-important chamber.

Fetterman appeared on track to narrowly gain the seat but his contentious debate performance on Monday - in which he struggled to string sentences together due to the lingering effects of a Maystroke that almost killed him - has ignited doubts about his fitness for office.

The fallout has also stoked anxiety among Democrats,who are trailing behind the Republicans as concerns about the record high inflation rates and cost-of-living pressures drive voter sentiment,including in other battlegrounds such as Georgia,Arizona and Nevada.

“As Biden’s approval rating plummets,Pennsylvania crime spikes,and Pennsylvanians grapple with a 74 per cent hike in heating oil,coupled with record inflation,just weeks away from winter,” Trump said in a statement.

“The America First Movement offers the Keystone State an alternative vision for America:safe streets,cheap gas,low inflation,and a thriving American economy.”

Trump has consistently hinted that he will run for re-election again but as Republicans head to the polls,the former president has been making his intentions even clearer.

“In order to make our country successful,safe and glorious again,I will probably have to do it again,” he said at an event in Texas last weekend.

But the former president is not without his own woes, facing a string of legal cases as well as a subpoena from the January 6 committee investigating the US Capitol riots.

US media reported that Trump’s lawyers accepted service of the committee’s subpoena and will have until November to 4 to turn over documents sought. He has also been asked by the committee to testify at a deposition on November 14.

It’s also not clear if Trump will face a viable contender from within the GOP for the party nomination,such asFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis,evaded the question of whether he would run in 2024,at a debate on Monday.

Rather than answer directly whether he might leave the state,he took a swipe at President Joe Biden and his own Democratic opponent,Representative Charlie Crist,whom he called “the only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture”.

Get a note directly from our foreigncorrespondentson what’s making headlines around the world.Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.