Trump downplays cost of gas, praises action in Iran during rally in Ohio

By Kerry Picket - The Washington Times - Monday, October 12, 2026

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — President Trump called on Ohio voters to support the Republican ticket Monday night, downplaying the current higher gas prices.

Mr. Trump’s supporters gathered at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, where he boosted his administration’s agenda, as he recently did in Vandalia, Ohio, in an effort to promote the benefits of data centers.

Mr. Trump said Iran would not obtain a nuclear weapon, claimed military action had significantly weakened Iran, and predicted lower gasoline prices.

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“As soon as it ends, the gasoline comes down, but remember, your prices, your gas prices, are lower than when Biden was president, and he didn’t do anything about Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Mr. Trump said.

“You cannot let the number one state sponsor of terror have a nuclear weapon, and it was my honor.”

The trip is the president’s third time rallying at the venue, having visited there in July 2017 to push his policies during his first term and returning in September 2022 to stump for J.D. Vance’s successful U.S. Senate campaign.

Mr. Trump’s arrival in Ohio, on Columbus Day, comes just days after he called for a statue of Christopher Columbus to be returned to Columbus City Hall.

He hammered the point further at the rally.

“They took that name away from you, you know, Columbus, Ohio, and everything else. But they took the name away from our country. They took away from really away from Italian Americans, and he said we’re not going to let that stand.”

Mayor Andrew Ginther ordered it removed in 2020 during antiracism protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police.

Mr. Trump, who won Ohio in all three of his presidential races, is in the state to boost the campaign of Republican Sen. Jon Husted, whom he previously thanked for advancing legislation on the impact of data facilities, and is expected to join him at the rally.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Mr. Husted to the seat in 2024 after Mr. Vance vacated it to join Mr. Trump’s presidential ticket for the White House.

The Ohio GOP senator is now running to win the seat on his own this November.

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, faces Mr. Husted in the general election. Mr. Brown, a three-term senator in the state’s other seat, lost in 2024 to Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno.

Mr. Trump also encouraged voters to support former co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency and billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in his bid to win the Ohio governor’s seat.

Amy Acton, who won the Democratic nomination for the seat, is the former director of health for outgoing Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.

However, Mr. DeWine endorsed Mr. Ramaswamy along with his running mate, state Senate President Rob McColley, for lieutenant governor.

Mr. Trump slammed Ms. Acton as “horrible” and “a radical left lunatic.”

He added that she and Mr. Brown “will tax you to the day you die and force you to work longer hours for less pay. They’re going to put the inheritance back.”

Statewide races in Ohio remain tight in the campaign’s closing weeks. A recent Suffolk/USA Today Ohio Network poll found both Mr. Brown and Ms. Acton holding a slight edge over their GOP opponents.