President Donald Trump spoke near Dayton on Saturday, throwing his support behind Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Husted.
His stop came as part of a series of rallies to support Republican candidates heading into the midterm elections.
Trump hit the stage at Vandalia-Butler High School just before 8:30 p.m. He played all his greatest hits to an enthusiastic capacity crowd, citing what he called his administration's accomplishments including a “strong tariff policy” and stopping illegal immigration.
And he touched on the need for data centers — a controversial issue for some Ohio cities.
“We’re also taking historic action to ensure that big tech data centers benefit local communities," Trump said. "We want them … look there is so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China.”
Husted is in a tight race with former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Husted was appointed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to fill Vice President JD Vance’s senate seat in 2025.
Trump won Ohio by eight points in 2016 and 2020 and by 11 points in 2024.
But Trump’s popularity is in question now that voters are faced with affordability issues and an unpopular war in Iran, according to a recent interview with Marc Caleb Smith, a political science expert at Cedarville University.
Political experts who spoke with the Statehouse News Bureau were mixed on whether they thought the rally would help or hurt Husted.
“So on one level this seems reasonable in a state that Donald Trump has done extremely well in when he has run for the presidency," Smith said. "But I think you can see that he is weaker now than he has been. I think his coalition is fragmenting now, so I think this is a real risk.”
Springfield immigration
Trump also brought up Springfield, referring to the city's history of Haitians immigrating to the area and calling it a "very sad story" while making several false statements.
"They brought in 35,000 people, they go into a town of 32,000, a beautiful, idyllic ... not anymore but it will soon be. They are all being brought back to their country," Trump said.
Springfield has a population of around 60,000. While there aren't exact population numbers, officials estimate that before the surge in immigration enforcement there were an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Haitian immigrants living in the greater Springfield area.
Most arrived seeking opportunity through Temporary Protected Status, which was a legal immigration pathway for people in countries unsafe from violence and disasters. The Trump administration ended TPS on July 27 after winning its case before the U.S. Supreme Court in June.
