President Trump has been appearing around the US in the run-up to the midterm elections, announcing economic development projects — from a possible pipeline in Alaska to a steel plant in Iowa to an aluminum smelter in Oklahoma — that he says will transform the country.

"In the real economy, we are blowing it away," he said at a weekend stop in Tennessee.

Trump's message of confidence comes as the ultimate shape of these projects remains far from certain and often directly echoes his pitch at this stage in the 2018 midterm elections, a Yahoo Finance review found.

That election eight years ago was the last time Trump faced midterm voters and also saw ...