WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has announced plans to locate a new repair facility for submarine parts in Ohio, as he touted his efforts to boost jobs in a crucial battleground state ahead of midterm elections.
Trump said the Pentagon would place the new home of the US Submarine Component Repair Center in Cleveland, calling it “a big deal that everybody wanted”.
The 46,000-sq-ft facility “will manufacture, repair, and maintain key parts for virtually all new and existing submarines,” he added.
The award follows a memorandum Trump signed in August that called for Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit a plan to establish such a repair centre “to receive new and refurbish old components and parts as required by the submarine repair industrial base” within 90 days of the directive.
Trump announced a rally Monday in Youngstown, Ohio, as he barnstorms the country to boost Republican candidates with roughly three weeks until the Nov 3 midterm election.
The president has touted private investments and government-backed projects in a bid to assuage voters who give his handling of the economy and the war in Iran poor marks.
The election is expected to hinge largely on high costs of living that have squeezed households.
While Trump has touted new projects in key states – many of which voted for him for president – voters appear more focused on pocketbook issues.
Stubborn inflation led the Federal Reserve last month to raise interest rates, and Trump has sought to lower energy costs that have soared because of the wars in Ukraine and Iran.
Mortgage rates above 7% have sent US home sales plummeting to a 12-year low.
Meanwhile, retail gasoline – below US$3 before Trump and Israel launched a war against Iran earlier this year – has now risen to more than US$4.35 this week.
Republicans face a tough path to retain control of Congress and Ohio is a crucial battleground in that fight.
Trump’s rally follows one earlier this month near Dayton, Ohio.
While the president won the state in all three of his presidential campaigns, this cycle, Republicans find themselves on the defensive across the map.
Republican Senator Jon Husted is trying to fend off a competitive challenge from former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
The RealClearPolitics average of polls had Brown with a roughly three percentage point edge on Monday.
The Senate Majority PAC – a top Democratic super political action committee – plans to spend US$7mil in Ohio, redirecting resources from a North Carolina Senate race, where the party’s candidate is now the clear favourite to win and pick up a Grand Old Party-held seat.
Ohio also hosts a competitive gubernatorial race as Republican Vivek Ramaswamy – a one-time 2024 presidential rival-turned-ally of Trump’s – is in a tight race with Democrat Amy Acton to succeed incumbent GOP Governor Mike DeWine.
The RealClearPolitics polling average earlier Monday showed Acton leading Ramaswamy by nearly four percentage points.
Even though the president is suffering from approval ratings at historic lows, he’s banking on being able to reinvigorate and turn out enough of his base in reliably Republican states to bunt Democratic momentum and avoid a wave election that could sweep his political opponents into power. — Bloomberg
