Trump at Ohio rally: “Pretend I’m on the ballot” and backs data centres

The rally was held at Butler High School in Vandalia, outside Dayton, where the president appeared alongside Republican Senator Jon Husted and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, as the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper reports. The races are tight: Husted faces former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown for the Senate, while Ramaswamy is running for governor. Trump has won Ohio in all three elections in which he has run.

Speaking before an enthusiastic crowd, Trump asked those present to “Pretend I’m on the ballot” and said “When I run, we win”. He described his political opponents as “radicals”, “communists”, “lunatics” and “sick people”, stressing that it is essential for Republicans to keep their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The president also expressed his support for artificial intelligence data centres, declaring that they “benefit local communities” and that Ohio has one of the highest concentrations in the country — which, he said, would help the U.S. beat China in the global AI race. But many Ohio residents remain sceptical: an April poll by Bowling Green State University showed that a majority believes data centres raise household energy costs and harm the environment, while more than 70% of those surveyed favoured a temporary ban on building new centres. Republican strategists fear this stance could cost Husted dearly in the midterm elections.

Trump also spoke about his life before politics, saying he could have been “at home, in Monte Carlo, anywhere”. The crowd answered with chants of “four more years”, while the president replied that he “would like to do it for four more years”.

He also criticised Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, saying that “they are all going back to their country”, and recited once again the well-known poem “The Snake”. The comments came on the same day as the funeral of the Haitian student Pierre Damas Bel, whose death is attributed to strict immigration policies; Republican Governor Mike DeWine attended the funeral and was absent from the rally.

Protesters against Trump had also gathered outside the school, but the gatherings remained peaceful. Meanwhile, former NFL coach Jon Gruden made a surprise appearance on stage, expressing support for Husted.

The latest polls place Trump’s approval rating in Ohio somewhere between 35 and 42 percent.