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President Donald Trump swept into Ohio Saturday night promoting what he calls a new “golden age” for America, pointing to billions of dollars in investment and new jobs in the Buckeye State as he urged voters to help keep Republicans in power in November.
For the third time in as many nights, Trump rallied supporters outside Dayton for Republicans Sen. Jon Husted and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, casting the midterms as a chance to extend the economic and political gains he said the GOP has delivered since his return to the White House.
And with his own name absent from the ballot, Trump gave voters gathered a simple instruction.
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President Donald Trump takes the stage at the Butler-Vandalia Student Activity Center during a campaign rally on Saturday, in Vandalia, Ohio. Trump is traveling across the U.S. in the final weeks before the midterm elections to campaign for Republican candidates. (Getty Images)
“Just pretend that I’m running,” Trump said. “When I run, we win.”
Trump, who carried Ohio in all three of his presidential campaigns, later echoed the same message as he sought to rally his political coalition behind Republicans fighting to maintain control of Congress.
“If you don’t mind, please pretend that I’m on the ballot,” Trump said. “And you need to turn out for a midterm victory.”
The president used much of the rally to make an economic case for the Republican ticket, declaring Ohio is “booming” as he hailed investments he credited to both his trade and tariff policies.
Trump pointed to a $400 million Stellantis investment in Toledo and an $850 million Electra aerospace investment near Springfield.
Weaving in an anecdote about his daily aspirin habit, the president also featured Bayer’s plans for a $2.2 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing campus near Columbus, which the company says will support approximately 600 permanent jobs and 1,500 construction jobs.
“Your state is booming,” Trump told the gathered crowd. “Every state is booming.”
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A supporter holds a “Trump Country” flag as President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio, Saturday. (AFP via Getty Images)
Trump credited the investments to his tariff agenda, arguing the U.S. is finally leveling the playing field after years of other countries using tariffs against American products while giving companies a powerful incentive to build at home.
The president also threw his support behind Husted’s Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation aimed at shielding consumers from additional electricity costs associated with data centers.
“We want them,” Trump said of data centers. “There’s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China.”
Husted brought the legislation to the Senate floor days before the rally, where it failed to advance. President Trump pledged to sign it if Congress can send it to his desk.
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Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Jon Husted and former NFL coach Jon Gruden listen as President Donald Trump speaks at the Butler-Vandalia Student Activity Center during a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio. (Getty Images)
“I will sign this Ratepayer Protection Act into law immediately,” Trump said.
Trump broadened his victory lap from Ohio to the country as a whole, hailing stock market records, manufacturing growth, investment and employment while contrasting his own administration’s economic record with former President Joe Biden’s.
“Our nation is doing better now than ever before,” Trump said.
He also praised GOP-backed tax provisions, including no tax on tips and overtime, and reiterated his previously announced proposal for $5,000 payments to adult Americans if Republicans retain the House and Senate.
Trump then shifted to immigration and Springfield, Ohio, dedicating his recitation of the poem “The Snake” to the city that became a national flashpoint during the 2024 presidential campaign over an influx of Haitian nationals into the community.
President Donald Trump smiles during a campaign rally in Ohio. (AFP via Getty Images)
“I dedicate this to Springfield, Ohio,” Trump said. “They went through hell.”
After finishing the poem, which the president has long admired as an immigration allegory, he told the crowd, “That’s what happened at our border,” before hailing his administration’s immigration crackdown.
The president also briefly touched on Venezuela, claiming the U.S. had more than recouped the costs of its military operation against former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro through the country’s vast oil resources.
“We paid for the cost of the war many, many times over,” Trump said. “We’re making a fortune with it.”
President Donald Trump takes the stage at the Butler-Vandalia Student Activity Center during a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio. (Getty Images)
Trump repeatedly weaved the election 31 days away into his remarks, urging Ohioans to support Husted, Ramaswamy and Republican congressional candidates.
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He also pitched Ohio as a potential home for the U.S. National Space Academy, citing both the state’s aviation history and the Wright brothers.
“If we win the midterms, Ohio will be very, very strongly considered for this,” Trump said. “I really want you to go out and vote again for John Husted and for Vivek.”
