US President Donald Trump told a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, that he expects a “big surprise” in the November 3 midterm elections. He continued campaigning for Republican candidates and said the party would perform better than critics predict.
“Just get out and vote. If you do that, we’re going to win, and we’re going to win big,” Trump said. He was campaigning for Senator Jon Husted, gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and other Republicans.
Polls suggest Democrats could gain ground in the midterms. Several incumbent Republican senators across the country face difficult political conditions, while Trump’s popularity has fallen in recent months. The pressure is also linked to persistent high petrol prices and the cost of other staples amid the US-Israel war on Iran.
Husted is in a competitive Ohio race against Democrat Sherrod Brown and hopes the president can mobilise supporters who might otherwise skip the midterms. Trump won more than 55 percent of Ohio’s vote in the 2024 presidential election, but economic concerns since then have weakened his approval ratings.
Average petrol prices in Ohio have risen 35 percent over the past year to $4.16 per gallon, or 3.8 litres. Trump’s trade policy towards Canada has also prompted retaliatory Canadian tariffs affecting about $3bn in Ohio exports, based on 2025 figures.
Shortly before the rally, Husted told reporters that the United States must win the war with Iran “on our terms”. In the meantime, he said he was showing people that he was fighting for lower prices.
Trump devoted substantial attention to his administration’s actions involving data centres, particularly facilities built for artificial intelligence. He said he wanted them to “benefit local communities” and praised Husted for an unsuccessful effort to advance legislation on the issue.
“There’s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China,” Trump said, defending the data centres.
The issue has become a major political question and has drawn bipartisan opposition in campaigns across the country. Voters are concerned about the effect of data centres on electricity prices, farmland and water supplies.
The issue is especially contentious in Ohio, where Husted has repeatedly been attacked for his role in attracting data centres to the state while serving as lieutenant governor.
The Republican-controlled Senate tried to advance a bill sponsored by Husted that would effectively require utility regulators to charge large power users more. The effort came as consumers struggle with high energy costs, but nearly all Democrats blocked it.
“Senator Jon Husted gave billions in tax breaks to Big Tech to make sure they would build their data centres in Ohio. Now, he’s making Ohioans foot the bill,” Brown wrote on X before Trump’s visit.
Source: aljazeera.com
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3329 | 4 Oct. 2026 | 08:57
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