President Trump returned to Ohio on Monday, for the second time in 10 days, to play defense in a state that twice helped deliver him to the White House. He rallied in Youngstown, the heart of the industrial belt that helped fuel his rise, to marshal support for two of the Republican Party's most vulnerable candidates this cycle: Senator Jon Husted, who is vying to retain his seat, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who is competing for the governorship. Polls show tight races in a state Mr. Trump won in 2024 by 11 percentage points.
"Ohio is going to prove that America does not belong to those who hate it," Mr. Trump said. "America belongs to those who love it."
The Mahoning Valley, where he spoke, was battered by globalization. Many voters here grew up as Democrats but became Republicans after Mr. Trump persuaded them he would fight for them when no one else had. Now, with prices persistently high and Mr. Trump's approval rating hovering near a record low, officials of both parties see those voters as up for grabs. Mr. Husted told the crowd that the area had flipped red after Mr. Trump's 2016 run. Some sections of the arena were visibly empty.
To show voters he had their back, Mr. Trump announced a new Defense Department facility, which he said would be based in Cleveland, to repair submarine components, and a promise to make sure a heat provider for Youngstown remained open. In other battlegrounds, including Michigan and Iowa, Republican candidates have distanced themselves from Mr. Trump. In Ohio, down-ballot candidates have stayed close to the president, relying on him to turn out the base in a year when Democratic enthusiasm appears high.
Representative Max Miller, the embattled congressional candidate accused of physically abusing his ex-wife and young daughter, attended, as did Senator Bernie Moreno, who beat Mr. Husted's Democratic opponent, former Senator Sherrod Brown, two years ago. (Mr. Miller has denied the allegations.) Mr. Trump lavished praise on the candidates, most of all on Mr. Husted, a former football player, saying, "I started examining his body, because I didn't know he was a great athlete."
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