Trump rally comes on heels of mass layoffs in Ohio - Newsweek

President Donald Trump is set to visit the Dayton, Ohio, area Saturday as nearly 1,400 workers at a truck plant in nearby Springfield grapple with layoffs that have become a flashpoint in the state's political debate ahead of November's midterm elections.

The job cuts, affecting workers at facilities formerly operated by International Motors, occurred on September 30 and were large enough to effectively erase about a year's worth of job growth in the greater Dayton region, the Associated Press reported.

The layoffs have created a complicated backdrop for Trump's appearance in southwest Ohio, a region that has been central to Republicans' success with working-class voters. Workers described frustration over rising costs and economic uncertainty, including some who had previously supported Trump.

"Something has to change politically in this country," Kyle Bos, a member of the United Auto Workers (UAW) who identifies as a centrist, told the AP. "Seems like it just kept getting worse and worse and worse."

Bos added that he had voted for Trump multiple times but now planned to canvass for Democrats.

The president's Ohio visit is part of an extended series of campaign events aimed at persuading voters that economic conditions are improving.

"All over the country, they're building factories, plants—manufacturing's coming back," Trump said Thursday at a truck plant in Texas. "The only thing we're doing badly at is public relations."

While the layoffs have become part of a broader political conversation, public filings tie them to a corporate transaction rather than a sudden closure spurred by economic conditions alone.

More than 1,300 employees were expected to lose their jobs as part of International Motors' agreement to sell the Springfield Assembly Plant and Truck Specialty Center to Canadian vehicle manufacturer Roshel, per a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with Ohio authorities.

The Springfield facility, which opened in 1966, had recently been used primarily for contract manufacturing under an agreement that was scheduled to expire at the end of September. Company officials said that expiration helped prompt efforts to find a buyer for the operation.

The sale is expected to transfer the facilities to Roshel, which has indicated plans to establish operations at the site. The AP reported that some workers hope they may be rehired once the new owner ramps up production. The layoffs have also become a major focus for UAW Local 402, which represents many Springfield workers.

Roshel said in a statement to the AP that it's "working with everyone involved not only to protect the current workforce, but to more than double it over the coming years through a phased process."

Industry and labor groups have separately been warning about pressures facing parts of the trucking sector, including high operating costs and concerns about freight demand, though no public evidence has directly linked those issues to the Springfield layoffs.

The Dayton-Springfield region has long been viewed as an important barometer of working-class political sentiment. Once a major manufacturing hub, the region has experienced decades of industrial change and job losses, making issues such as wages, inflation and factory employment particularly salient for voters.

Newsweek has reached out to International Motors, UAW Local 402, a trucking industry organization and an economic expert for comment.

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Newsweek in an email statement on Saturday that “as a result of the President’s pro-growth economic agenda, billions of dollars in new private investment are flooding into the state of Ohio, creating jobs and boosting local communities."

She added: "The President’s Working Families Tax Cut—the largest middle-class tax cut in history—protected over 200,000 Ohio jobs, preserved $37 billion in Ohio GDP, and delivered Ohioans an average tax refund of $3,308 this year. The economy continues to add thousands of manufacturing jobs, further proving that the nearly 20 trade deals President Trump secured are leveling the playing field for American workers and businesses.”

The layoffs came only days before Trump's visit and in the midst of competitive races in Ohio for the Senate and governor.

With Republicans defending a narrow majority in Congress, Democrats are hoping to stage a comeback in Ohio this year. The Buckeye State was once a battleground that backed former President Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 elections but has since shifted rightward, backing Trump three times, including a double-digit victory in 2024.

Former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is running against Republican Senator Jon Husted, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance. Polls are suggesting that the race is close.

Brown was up 3.1 points in RealClearPolitics’ aggregate as of Thursday.

A recent Suffolk University poll showed him up 3 points, 47 percent to 44 percent, while he led by 8 points, 51 percent to 43 percent, in a Marist University poll.

The Suffolk poll surveyed 500 likely voters from September 23 to 27 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, while the Marist poll was conducted from September 24 to 27 among 1,298 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

National Republicans have poured another $14 million into Ohio's Senate race, underscoring mounting concerns about Husted's bid to hold on to his seat. The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, announced the additional investment Friday, bringing its total commitment to the race to $93 million.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy trailed Democrat Amy Acton in two new polls released Tuesday by Marist University and Suffolk University.

Acton led by 9 points, 50 percent to 41 percent, in the Suffolk poll. It is her strongest lead in any survey since February. Meanwhile, she held a 6-point lead in the Marist poll, 50 percent to 44 percent.

A third poll released later Tuesday by Big Data Poll showed Ramaswamy with a slight lead, 45.1 percent to 42.7 percent.

The Suffolk poll surveyed 500 likely voters from September 23 to September 27, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. The Marist poll surveyed 1,298 registered voters from September 24 to September 27, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The Big Data Poll surveyed 735 registered voters, 680 of whom were likely voters, on September 26 and September 27.

Both the Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball classify the races as a toss-up.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Steve Mollman and Anthony Murray.