Donald Trump canceled, then promptly uncancelled, two in-person rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend as polls suggest US midterm races in former Republican strongholds could go down to the wire.

On Thursday, just five days before election day, the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced the president would no longer host the Kansas and Iowa rallies and instead participate in “a large number of tele-rallies”. The RNC claimed it felt it was in a “strong position” in Kansas and Iowa.

But on Friday morning, a source familiar with the matter said the rallies were “back on” and rearranged to accommodate the 19 tele-rallies Trump is also participating in.

With control of the US Congress on the line, next week’s midterm elections amount to a referendum on Trump, who has repeatedly urged voters to pretend he is himself on the ballot, as his approval ratings continued to decline. Democrats hope to capitalize on growing discontent with Trump to retake the US House of Representatives and the Senate.

It is unclear whether Trump anticipated rearranging the Kansas and Iowa rallies or if they were unexpectedly added to his schedule.

Trump told reporters on Thursday that he believed Republicans would have “a strong Tuesday night”, and did not feel like he had to go to Kansas. But he also lashed out at a Reuters reporter who asked whether the initial change of plans was because Trump was sick of traveling across the country.

“Oh, you’re sick to ask that question. You are sick,” Trump told the reporter, accusing the reporter of being “way out of shape” and calling him “disgusting”.

Read the full report from The Guardian here.