Trump defends data centers in Ohio as he rallies to boost Jon Husted in a tight Senate race

VANDALIA, Ohio (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday defended data centers that power artificial intelligence projects but have become a contentious campaign issue nationwide, as he took his midterm tour to Ohio to insist his party will keep its majorities in Congress despite steep political headwinds.

Trump took several minutes during his campaign rally in southwestern Ohio to promote his administration’s action on data centers, saying he was seeking to ensure they “benefit local communities” and praising Republican Sen. Jon Husted for an ill-fated 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,” Trump said, repeating his defense of data centers that he had made before. The crowd, which had reacted enthusiastically as the president talked about other policies, was far more muted during the data centers remark.

The massive warehouse campuses generating energy for AI projects have become a toxic political issue, drawing bipartisan opposition in races across the country, with voters concerned about their impact on electricity prices, farmland and water supplies. It’s become especially acute in Ohio, where Husted has been repeatedly attacked for his role in attracting data centers to Ohio as lieutenant governor.

Trump is embarking on what he says will be a 32-day blitz ahead of the Nov. 3 elections, hitting the deep red states of Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama this week before pivoting to Ohio, a battleground state that’s home to one of the top-tier Senate races this cycle.

Husted — who was appointed to fill the Senate vacancy left by now-Vice President JD Vance — is running to win the seat outright. There is likely no path to a Senate majority for Democrats without flipping Ohio, where former three-term Sen. Sherrod Brown is trying to return to the Senate after losing to Republican Bernie Moreno two years ago.

Since last year, Democrats have listed Ohio, along with states such as North Carolina and Maine, as key races to win control of the Senate. And this past week, the head of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm said Ohio is among 10 battleground races that are “within striking distance.”

“The good news for us is that Jon Husted is a closer,” Sen. Tim Scott, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told reporters. “We’re seeing the gap that was there between the two candidates, which was just a few points, now it is right at a dead-even race. So this is as tight as ticks, as we say in South Carolina.”

Data centers are a hot issue in the Ohio race

At his rallies, Trump has been trying to convince voters that the economy is better than they feel it is, even though polls show Americans are frustrated with the way he’s handled it. The high cost of living, including gas prices elevated by Trump’s war on Iran, is a top issue in the Dayton area, too. And just days before Trump’s rally, nearly 1,400 people were laid off from a truck factory in nearby Springfield.

“Your state is booming. Every — I hate to say it — every state is booming,” Trump insisted Saturday. “They’re all booming.”

Trump’s rally comes as Republicans worry that Husted’s campaign has failed to adequately catch fire with voters in the Republican-dominated state. Brown and allied groups have hammered Husted for his data-centers role, and the NRSC has pinpointed it as a political vulnerability.

The GOP-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.

“You got to remember, Sherrod Brown was for data centers, and Jon Husted is for data centers being responsible,” Scott told reporters this week. “If a community doesn’t want them, he doesn’t want them either.”

But Trump has become one of data centers’ most vocal proponents, shrugging aside voter concerns and arguing that the U.S. cannot cede advancements in AI to China.

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

Brown’s campaign also has hammered Husted for donations he’s received from retail magnate Les Wexner, who once employed the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Husted has donated remaining Wexner contributions to an anti-human trafficking charity.

There were several Epstein-themed signs outside the Vandalia school where the rally was being held, as more than a hundred protesters lined the road with a slew of anti-Trump and anti-Husted signs.

But inside the school’s gymnasium, the boisterous crowd — decked out in red “Make America Great Again” hats and “Trump 47” jerseys — greeted each Republican candidate enthusiastically as they awaited the president’s arrival.

From the stage, Husted said the state had been through “hard times,” noting his dad had worked at a factory that closed down. But he said Republicans in the state had turned it around.

“We now have the most jobs and the lowest unemployment rate we’ve ever had in the history of Ohio,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the governor’s race, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy faces Democrat Dr. Amy Acton, the state’s former COVID-era health director.

A wealthy biotech entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate, Ramaswamy’s star appeal among conservatives led to quick backing by Ohio Republicans and hopes of an easy victory in the Republican-dominated state. However, despite a massive fundraising lead and more than $12 million spent in campaign advertising, he is now locked in a close fight with Acton with weeks to go until Election Day.

“I’m so grateful to this state and to this country for giving a kid like me opportunities that would not have been available to my family in any other country on planet earth,” Ramaswamy said at the rally ahead of Trump’s arrival, as he underscored the American dream for his Indian immigrant family.

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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro in Washington, and AP writers Melissa Goldin in New York and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.