Trump touts 'golden age' at Ohio rally, urges voters to deliver GOP midterm wins

And with his own name absent from the ballot, Trump gave voters gathered a simple instruction.

"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.

"Your state is booming," Trump told the gathered crowd. "Every state is booming."

"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.

"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.

"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."

Trump repeatedly weaved the election 31 days away into his remarks, urging Ohioans to support Husted, Ramaswamy and Republican congressional candidates.

"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."