Trump defiant about midterm chances as he rallies for Republicans in Ohio

Trump tells a rally in Ohio that he believes there will be a “big surprise” in the upcoming elections.

US President Donald Trump applauds as the crowd cheers during a rally at Butler High School in Vandalia, Ohio, US, on October 3, 2026 [Nathan Howard/Reuters]

US President Donald Trump has continued rallying for Republican candidates while visiting Ohio, proposing a defiant outlook on his party’s chances in the November 3 midterm elections.

Trump told a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, that he believes there will be a “big surprise” in the upcoming elections, claiming his Democratic opponents do not know what is happening.

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Polls have suggested that Democrats could gain ground in the midterms, but the US president said Republicans would do better than critics expect.

“Just get out and vote,” Trump said as he rallied for US Senator Jon Husted, gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and other Republicans.

“If you do that, we’re going to win, and we’re going to win big,” he said.

Multiple incumbent Republican senators across the country face tough political headwinds, with Trump’s popularity falling in recent months as higher petrol prices and those for other staples persist amid the US-Israel war ⁠⁠on Iran.

Husted, a Republican in a competitive Ohio race against Democrat Sherrod Brown, hopes the president can motivate supporters who might otherwise skip midterm elections.

Trump garnered more than 55 percent of the Ohio vote in the 2024 presidential election, but economic concerns since then have sunk his approval ratings.

Ohio petrol prices increased 35 percent over the past year to $4.16 per gallon (3.8 litres) on average, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which compiles data ⁠⁠on automobile travel. Trump’s trade policy with Canada has also led to retaliatory Canadian tariffs that affect about $3bn worth of Ohio exports, based ⁠⁠on 2025 figures, Canadian broadcaster CBC reported.

Talking to reporters shortly before addressing Saturday’s rally, Husted said the US has to win the Iran war “on our terms” and, in the interim, he is “showing people that I’m fighting for lower prices”.

Trump extensively promoted his administration’s action on data centres, mainly those built for AI, during the rally, saying he was seeking to ensure they “benefit local communities” and praising Husted for an unsuccessful attempt to push forward legislation on the issue.

“Look, there’s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China,” he said, repeating his defence of data centres.

Data centres have become a hot political issue, drawing bipartisan opposition in races across the country, with voters concerned about their impact on electricity prices, farmland and water supplies.

The issue became especially acute in Ohio, where Husted has been repeatedly attacked for his role in attracting data centres to the Midwestern state as lieutenant governor.

The Republican-controlled Senate tried to advance legislation this past week sponsored by Husted that would ask utility regulators to effectively charge large power users more, as consumers struggle with high energy costs. But it was blocked by nearly all Democrats.

“Senator Jon Husted gave billions in tax breaks to Big Tech to make sure they would build their data centres in Ohio,” Brown wrote on X on Friday, ahead of Trump’s visit. “Now, he’s making Ohioans foot the bill.”

特朗普在俄亥俄州的一次集会上表示，他相信即将到来的选举将会出现“大惊喜”。

2026年10月3日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在俄亥俄州范达利亚市巴特勒高中举行的集会上，向欢呼的人群鼓掌。[Nathan Howard/路透社]

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在访问俄亥俄州期​​间继续为共和党候选人助选，并对其党在11月3日中期选举中的前景表示不乐观。

特朗普在俄亥俄州范达利亚的一次集会上表示，他相信即将到来的选举将会出现“大惊喜”，并声称他的民主党对手不知道正在发生什么。

佩洛西支持的三位美国候选人之一呼吁对以色列实施“全面武器禁运”。

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特朗普加大对美国共和党人的施压，要求其停止美国时钟切换（共3条，此为第3条）

民调显示，民主党在中期选举中可能会有所斩获，但美国总统表示，共和党的表现会比批评人士预期的要好。

“赶紧去投票，”特朗普在为美国参议员乔恩·赫斯特德、州长候选人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米和其他共和党人助选时说道。

“如果你这样做，我们就会赢，而且会大获全胜，”他说。

由于美以对伊朗的战争导致汽油和其他生活必需品价格持续上涨，特朗普的支持率在最近几个月有所下降，全国各地的多位现任共和党参议员都面临着严峻的政治逆风。

俄亥俄州共和党候选人哈斯特德正在与民主党候选人谢罗德·布朗展开激烈的角逐，他希望总统能够激励那些原本可能放弃参加中期选举的支持者。

特朗普在 2024 年总统选举中获得了俄亥俄州超过 55% 的选票，但此后的经济问题导致他的支持率大幅下降。

据美国汽车协会（AAA）统计，俄亥俄州汽油价格在过去一年上涨了35%，平均达到每加仑（3.8升）4.16美元。美国汽车协会负责收集汽车出行数据。加拿大广播公司（CBC）报道称，特朗普对加拿大的贸易政策也导致加拿大对俄亥俄州商品加征报复性关税，根据2025年的数据，这将影响价值约30亿美元的俄亥俄州出口商品。

在周六集会上发表讲话前不久，赫斯特德对记者说，美国必须“按照我们自己的方式”赢得伊朗战争，在此期间，他“正在向人们展示我正在为降低物价而战”。

在集会上，特朗普大力宣传了他的政府在数据中心（主要是为人工智能而建的数据中心）方面的举措，称他正在寻求确保这些数据中心“造福当地社区”，并赞扬了赫斯特德为推动有关该问题的立法所做的虽未成功但最终取得成果的努力。

“你看，俄亥俄州能从中赚到很多钱。你不能就这么把它们关掉。它们会转移到中国，”他再次为数据中心辩护时说道。

数据中心已成为一个热门的政治议题，在全国各地的选举中都遭到了两党的反对，选民们担心数据中心会对电价、农田和水资源供应产生影响。

这个问题在俄亥俄州变得尤为尖锐，因为哈斯特德担任副州长期间，曾因吸引数据中心落户该中西部州而屡遭抨击。

上周，由共和党控制的参议院试图推进一项由哈斯特德提出的法案，该法案要求公用事业监管机构向大型电力用户收取更高的费用，以应对消费者面临的高昂能源成本。但该法案几乎遭到所有民主党人的阻挠。

“参议员乔恩·赫斯特德给了大型科技公司数十亿美元的税收优惠，以确保它们在俄亥俄州建设数据中心，”布朗在特朗普访问前夕的周五在X网站上写道。“现在，他却让俄亥俄州人来买单。”