WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is hardly setting foot in competitive political territory, much less places he lost in 2016, as he barnstorms the country on behalf of Republican candidates before next month's midterm elections.

Only two of the dozen "Make America Great Again" rallies he's held since Labor Day have been in counties he lost in the presidential race — Clark County, Nevada, and Olmstead County, Minnesota, according to an NBC News analysis.

Trump's average margin of victory in the counties he's campaigned in, including the pair he dropped to Hillary Clinton, is more than 20 points — 57 percent to 36 percent — and includes five counties he won with more than 60 percent of the vote, according to a review of data compiled by Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections.

The president's itinerary so far has taken him largely to heavily Republican parts of GOP-leaning states and districts to help Republicans who are loyal to his cause. At the rallies, he offers red meat to supporters in the hopes of ensuring that they will show up to the polls on Nov. 6 even though his name isn't on the ballot.

His choice of locations indicates a reluctance to make his case beyond his Republican base. It also suggests that he can be more helpful to Republicans in tight House races by getting close enough to their districts that his most avid supporters can attend the rallies but far enough away that he won't attract as much attention from Democrats.

"His strength is in areas of low-density population," said former Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who headed the National Republican Congressional Committee during the 2000 and 2002 election cycles. "These are low turnout areas traditionally, but elected Trump. They need to keep him out of wealthy urban and suburban areas."

The Trump campaign referred NBC News to the White House for questions about the president's political travel, and the White House did not respond to an interview request.

But David Wasserman, the House editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said Trump's jam-packed schedule demonstrates that he still has tremendous value to the GOP in certain races.

"It says that unlike 2006, when there were virtually no districts George W. Bush was helpful to Republicans, there still are plenty of places where Trump can help gin up Republican enthusiasm and try to limit Republicans' House losses," said Wasserman, an NBC News contributor/senior analyst with the NBC Election Unit.