Trump Announces Federal Support To Keep Local Energy Provider Online In Ohio

President Donald Trump said at an Oct. 12 rally in Youngstown, Ohio, that the departments of Energy and Commerce will help keep SOBE Thermal Energy Systems, a troubled downtown steam utility, running as cold weather approaches. “You’re going to stay nice and warm during the winter,” Trump said at the Covelli Centre rally for local Republicans ahead of the midterms.

Details were thin. The Epoch Times said it had asked the departments for comment on what federal support would look like.

SOBE has been in trouble for a year. A Mahoning County judge appointed a receiver last fall at the request of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, and its rented boiler was repossessed days later over unpaid bills, the Vindicator reported. A January waterline rupture left 28 downtown customers without heat and hot water in below-zero temperatures, the paper said.

As the Epoch Times notes further, Trump also celebrated the Department of War choosing Cleveland for its 46,000 square-foot submarine component manufacturing facility, which will see to maintenance, production, and repair.

Although he is not on the ballot, the president is on a fast-paced campaign tour, having already addressed crowds in Tennessee, New York, and Nebraska, among other states, with the stop in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley to boost GOP voter turnout in the November election.

He last visited the Buckeye State on Oct. 3 when he headlined a rally in Vandalia.

The incumbent party has historically faced an uphill battle in the midterms, which Trump has vowed to turn around.

On Nov. 3, voters will determine control of the House of Representatives and Senate, with close races nationwide and Ohio potentially holding the key to victory.

“One vote can steer Congress in a direction that you’re not going to be happy with, and it’s not Ohio values,” Trump said, urging voters to back the state’s Republican candidates.

Several speakers, including Trump, also recognized Columbus Day, and the vandalism of statues in an attempt to erase the memory of the Italian explorer in recent years.

“The radical left maniacs, they took the name Columbus, Christopher Columbus, away,” Trump said. “We have to win, we have to keep winning, because they’ll do it again.”

Rep. Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), heavily favored in his reelection race against Democrat Elizabeth Kirtley, chatted with constituents on the floor of the arena before taking the stage.

“This is the blue-collar, Bruce Springsteen, Archie Bunker way of living right here. This is the populist movement,” Rulli told The Epoch Times. “So with Trump coming here, he has to wake up our voters. They have to show up. Whoever carries Ohio will be the party that shows up to vote.”

Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who was appointed to the Senate to fill Vice President JD Vance’s seat, is facing former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in a consequential battle.

“We have a sense of pride, a sense of humor around here, and … we’re blessed,” Husted said during the rally.

His opponent lost to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) in 2024.

“So you fired him two years ago. And now, he wants his job back, and he’s making all kinds of promises,” Moreno told supporters, while emphasizing the voting records of Democratic senators.

“Three times in a row, the Democrats in the United States Senate shut down our government, refused to pay American citizens who showed up to work a paycheck – not for a day or two, for months.”

Recent polls show a close race, with Brown slightly ahead in several results.

Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican, is facing former Ohio health director Dr. Amy Acton, a Democrat, in the race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.

Ramaswamy said his plan is to lead with conservative values, guided by the nation’s founding principles.

“We will always defend the greatness of this country without apologizing for who we are,” he said.

“That is who we are as Americans.

“It means we, the people, create a government that is accountable to us … that we believe in liberty and freedom and success over communism, success over socialism.”

The gubernatorial candidate called on audience members to reach out to their family and friends to help Republicans secure victories across the state.

“We’re counting on you. That is on your shoulders,” Ramaswamy said. “This is probably the most important election for governor that our state has ever seen in our history.”

Native Ohioan Jon Gruden, 2003 Super Bowl-winning NFL coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Husted’s teammate at the University of Dayton, introduced the president.

“To maximize our true potential, we’ve got to believe in our leadership,” Gruden said. “We’ve got to do it together. And if we can get this group elected, great days are ahead.”

Thousands of supporters from across Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania cheered and waved signs throughout the nearly four-hour program.

At least three protesters were removed from the arena, with one incident turning physical before the individual was forcibly evicted.

The president is scheduled to speak at GOP campaign rallies in Wasilla, Alaska; Bullhead City, Arizona; Kalispell, Montana; and Dalton, Georgia in the coming days, with more stops expected over the next three weeks before Election Day.