The president announced a planned steel mill in Iowa earlier this week, and he’s due to visit Ohio on Saturday President Donald Trump is spending time this week talking up big job-creating projects in battleground states, with his effort coming as forecasters increasingly expect losses for his Republican Party in the midterm elections due to voters’ economic worries. At an Oval Office event on Wednesday afternoon, Trump plans to highlight a $200 billion South Korean investment that involves a $54 billion natural-gas pipeline in Alaska, a power plant in Texas and eight nuclear power plants, according to a White House official. The president “will announce major energy-infrastructure investments that deliver on his Day One promises to unleash American energy, unlock Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential and accelerate America’s nuclear-energy renaissance,” said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers, in a statement.
Dan Sullivan of Alaska is among the bigwigs expected to take part in the Oval Office event. He is facing a tough midterm race against Democratic candidate Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman for Alaska. The Nov. 3 contest is rated as a “toss-up” by forecasters at both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
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At an Oval Office event on Monday, Trump touted plans for a new $15 billion steel mill in Iowa alongside two Republicans dealing with tight races in that state — Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Hinson said on Monday that an estimated 1,700 permanent jobs associated with the new mill means “countless opportunities for Iowa families,” adding that it’s “a game-changer for our state and, frankly, for the country.” She also promised to save Trump “a good Iowa pork chop” after the president pledged to take part in a midterm rally in her state.
Hinson’s race against Democratic nominee Josh Turek is rated as a “toss-up” by both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball. Miller-Meeks made similar remarks, saying the mill would create 6,000 construction jobs and it would be “just transformational” for the area, which has been hit by offshoring. Her election battle against Democratic candidate Christina Bohannan is rated as “leans Democratic” by Sabato’s Crystal Ball, while Cook views it as a toss-up.
On Saturday, Trump is expected to hold a rally in Ohio in an effort to help that state’s junior Republican senator, Jon Husted, who is also in a toss-up race. While the White House’s press team provided a comment about Trump’s Alaska announcement, it didn’t respond to a MarketWatch question on whether there will be a similar rollout of a corporate investment on Saturday in Ohio. Husted is running against former Ohio Democratic Sen.
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