Obama and Trump Hold Rival Rallies Five Days Before US Midterms
Barack Obama and Donald Trump held rival campaign rallies in Georgia and Ohio on Wednesday, five days before the US midterm elections, and used the events to criticise each other over the Iran war, tariffs and the White House ballroom project (Al Jazeera).
Obama spoke at a rally in Atlanta, where he stumped for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms (PBS NewsHour). Trump campaigned in Ohio to boost the reelection bid of Republican Senator Jon Husted. Reuters reported that the event was held in Chillicothe, inside a modest college gymnasium (Reuters).
The most pointed exchanges concerned the war with Iran. Obama said Trump had started an unnecessary war that nobody asked for and nobody voted for. The conflict began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran aimed at Tehran and at nuclear and military facilities. The strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking officials.
Iran responded with attacks on US military assets across the region and closed the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carries about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. A ceasefire reached in April and a memorandum of understanding signed in June both later collapsed, according to Al Jazeera. Obama said the United States had run down its stock of missiles, leaving it more vulnerable, and that Iran now has veto power, meaning the ability to block shipping, over the strait.
Obama also criticised the tariffs, which are taxes on imported goods, that Trump launched shortly after taking office in early 2025. He said consumers pay the cost. He put the US debt at $40 trillion, and mocked the White House renovations, including the ballroom, with a joke about the Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain. He further accused the administration of alienating allies such as Canada and of bending to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the expense of Ukrainians.
On the trade front, Trump has announced 50 percent tariffs on Canadian vehicles and auto parts, to take effect in January 2027. Canada retaliated with matching tariffs after talks between the two countries fell apart in August.
Trump has said he plans to spend $400 million on Republican campaign efforts by Election Day, mostly through a super PAC, an independent political committee that can raise and spend large sums outside a candidate's own campaign (Reuters). Georgia was one of two key pickup opportunities for Republicans at the start of the 2026 election cycle, meaning seats they hoped to win from Democrats.
In Ohio, Fox News correspondent Mark Meredith spoke with Trump supporters who predicted a "red wave" of Republican gains, while also raising concerns about the Iran war and rising prices (Fox News).
