President Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president since George W. Bush to visit Northern Kentucky University Saturday as he held a rally a few weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, where Republicans are seeking to hold control of both houses of Congress.

Trump is making stops all across the country to rally his supporters before the election and endorse local Republican candidates, including his latest in Highland Heights, Kentucky.

Attendees travel far & wide to see Trump at NKU

Supporters lined up before the sun rose in below average temperatures, stretching across the Truist Arena bridge towards the visitor parking lot across the street on University Drive.

Some attendees traveled from places like New York state, Michigan and beyond.

Daryl Cavendish from Cold Spring, Kentucky, who supported Trump since he went down the escalator at Trump Tower in June 2015 to announce his candidacy, was glad to see the president in town.

“I’m very happy with everything [President Trump is] doing,” he said. “I know a lot of people have problems with the war [in Iran]… but he’s trying to keep the American soldiers out of it… I’d rather have the gas go up a little bit than to have us no longer be in existence.”

Both Cavendish and some of the speakers at the rally talked about giving future generations a chance to thrive in a world which is continuously changing every day.

“I’d like to see this world be around for my grandson,” Cavendish said.

Opposition to the president’s visit around campus

Just as there were supporters of the president, there were protesters as well, who opposed his visit to the area and demonstrated throughout the day in locations in and around campus.

In a previous comment to The Northerner, the Campbell County Democratic Party welcomed the president’s visit with “satisfaction,” saying it shows the changing political environment in the county.

“With just three weeks until election day, the president has decided he needs to spend his time in our community, and that tells us something we already know: Campbell County is changing, and the political establishment is taking notice,” their statement read in part.

In a post on X, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, called the president’s visit to Northern Kentucky “a complete disservice to our people, our commonwealth and our country.”

The post read in part, “while hardworking families struggle due to skyrocketing prices from his ‘war of choice’ and unlawful tariffs, Trump makes false promises and says ‘life is better than ever.’ Kentuckians — and Americans — deserve a leader who cares.”

Pre-Trump: Republican figures make their points

Before the president spoke at the rally, several invited guests spoke about their Republican values and encouraged voting in the midterm elections.

They were, in order of when they spoke, Robert J. Benvenuti III, Chairman of the Republican Party of Kentucky; Mark Metcalf, the Kentucky State Treasurer; Eric Conroy, the Republican candidate for U.S. representative of Ohio’s 1st congressional district, which includes parts of Cincinnati and all of Warren County; former NAVY SEAL Ed Gallrein, seeking to become the new U.S. representative in Kentucky’s 4th congressional district, which includes NKU; and Andy Barr, who is running for U.S. Senate to replace the outgoing Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Benvenuti compared and contrasted Republican and Democrat policies and made his call to action to encourage Kentuckians to vote for GOP candidates on Nov. 3.

“Up and down the ballot, [the Democrats] have nominated candidates who represent a vision that is not in keeping with Kentucky values and out of touch with the concerns of hardworking families.” he said, “[The Republicans] offer a different vision, the vision of Presidents Lincoln, Reagan, and Trump. A vision rooted in freedom, opportunity, personal responsibility, and common sense.”

Republican Ed Gallrein, who is running in for the Kentucky 4th district seat against Democrat Melissa Strange, said it’s not about “right versus left” but “right versus wrong.” (Riley Weber-Horowitz)

Gallrein promised to be Northern Kentucky’s “champion in Washington, DC to “fight for you, your families, and our Kentucky values on day one,” also saying “we must commit to getting every vote out” and “make every vote count.”

“We cannot allow our internal divisions to weaken us on the global stage, because world peace and stability is at stake,” Gallrein said. “The mission is clear, the stakes are high, and the time to act is now.”

Barr said it was “an honor of a lifetime to fight alongside President Donald Trump to make America great again” and praised the president for taking steps he believes will bring about a better world.

“Because of our commander in chief, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism [Iran]… will never have a nuclear weapon,” Barr said. “Thank you President Trump for making America and the world a safer place.”

Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr, who is running to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell, tells supporters it’s been “the honor of a lifetime” to fight with President Trump to “Make America Great Again.” (Riley Weber-Horowitz)

The president takes the stage at NKU

Trump took the stage at Truist Arena at 2:17 p.m. to audience members chanting “U.S.A” and holding out cell phones to capture the moment, seated across the floor of the arena and the parts of the lower bowls not draped in red, white, and blue fabric. The upper parts of Truist remained empty.

He opened his speech by expressing his love for Kentucky, and saying he won the state in 2016, 2020, and additionally in 2024, where he received the most votes of any candidate in the state’s election history (1,337,494 individual votes).

“I’m thrilled to be back in this beautiful commonwealth, which … I won all three times, receiving more votes than any candidate in the history of Kentucky… presidential or not,” he said.

Among the topics he discussed were what he deemed as key policy wins in the first two years of his second term, additional investments coming to Kentucky, and future promises to Americans, should Republicans retain their majority in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

Early in the rally, a heckler interrupted Trump’s speech and was then removed from Truist Arena, Trump claimed the person was a paid protestor getting $250 for their actions, although no verifiable evidence could be found to back the president’s claim.

On the topic of investments by major companies in Kentucky, the president brought up Ford’s approximately $2 billion spent on its electric vehicles assembly plant in Louisville, which he attributed “to tariffs and the right leader.”

Additionally, he spoke of GE Appliance’s $1 billion investment in its current facilities in Louisville, which will make them “the largest home appliance manufacturing site in the U.S.,” according to a press release from GE Appliances on Sept. 2, 2026.

Extra investments, courtesy of the Department of War, may come to the state if Republicans hold on to both houses in the midterms, Trump said.

“If the Republicans win… we’ll be investing $100 million in the pharmaceutical company, Antheia, to revitalize a gigantic drug manufacturing facility in Winchester, Kentucky,” Trump said. “That’s a big one. That’s a big revitalization project.”

A sea of red MAGA hats fills Truist Arena as President Donald Trump rallies supporters to vote the GOP ticket in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. (Riley Weber-Horowitz)

In discussing his accomplishments from his second term, the president claimed “there’s never been a presidency that’s accomplished anywhere near what we did in the first two years… there’s never been two years like this anywhere in the history of our country.”

On the topic of border security, the president credited his administration with creating “the strongest and most secure border in the history of our country.”

President Trump also claimed that within the past 17 months, a total of zero illegal immigrants were admitted into the U.S., this is likely in reference to recent data from the Department of Homeland Security, which actually states there have been zero releases of undocumented immigrants into the U.S. by Border Patrol officials during that time period.

While illegal border crossings are “historically low levels” according to recent data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, they are not at zero.

Trump also said the nationwide murder rate is at its lowest level since 1919, which he credits towards having a Republican majority in both houses of the U.S. Congress.

New data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation counters the president’s 1919 claim, as their estimated murder rate hovers around “4.1 per 100,000 inhabitants,” which is the same murder rate in both 1955 and 1956, but also “the lowest since the FBI began keeping national estimates,” which began around the 1930s.

The president repeated his promise for a “Trump Dividend,” which would give every adult American citizen a check if Republicans keep their control over both houses of Congress under the condition that the money be spent only in the U.S.

“If the Republicans win, you’ll each have $5,000 in your pocket and economic success for our country like we have never seen before,” the president said.

The president contrasted this promise of economic success with the threat of an economic downturn should the Democrats take back control.

“If the Democrats win, you will have, in my opinion, I hope I’m wrong about this … you’re going to have a depression,” the president said, referencing the stock market crash in October 1929, which led to the Great Depression.

Sanctuary cities, or cities that try to reduce their efforts of working with the federal government towards enforcing immigration laws, which can provide protections to undocumented immigrants, will be ended “once and for all” if Republicans win, according to Trump.

Although no current Kentucky cities or counties make the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Sanctuary Jurisdiction List,” as of October 2026, previous entrants to the list included cities like Louisville in mid-2025.

Trump made other promises as well, including new acts to curb future illegal immigration, protect future elections, keep men out of women’s sports and change the health care system to redistribute payments from health insurance companies “so you can buy your own, much better healthcare and have lots of money left over.”

At President Trump’s rally for Republican candidates, supporters of Ed Gallrein make it clear who they’ll be voting for in Kentucky’s 4th district. (Riley Weber-Horowitz)

Trump also endorsed several Kentucky Republican candidates, including Rep. Andy Barr who is running for senator, former NAVY SEAL Ed Gallrein in the 4th congressional district, and former Kentucky State Senator Ralph Alvarado, who finds himself in a tight race for U.S. representative in the 6th congressional district against Democrat Zach Dembo.

Barr, according to President Trump, “has been a warrior in Congress for many years,” and is a “great guy” who will “be one of the great U.S. Senators” should he beat Democratic nominee Charles Booker.

In praising Gallrein, President Trump called him “perfect,” “a natural,” “a tremendous leader,” and said that he will “be an outstanding member of Congress” should he win the election against Democrat Melissa Strange.

Even though the rally was held in Kentucky, Highland Heights is a suburb of Cincinnati, and President Trump told the audience about his support for candidates in the Buckeye State, like Eric Conroy, who is running to represent Ohio’s 1st congressional district, who Trump called “phenomenal,” along with former incumbent Sen. Jon Husted, now running against Democrat Sherrod Brown to keep his interim seat. Trump called Husted a “great guy,” “respected by everybody,” and “humble.”

To encourage people to vote for Republican candidates earlier in his rally, President Trump asked voters to “pretend that I’m on the ballot” as the upcoming election is “the most important midterm in the history of our country” according to Trump.

Trump supporters show up in all the colors of the flag to cheer on the president as he promotes Republican candidates for the midterm. (Riley Weber-Horowitz)

The political movement known as “Make America Great Again,” a term first used by Ronald Reagan in his 1980 campaign and given new life under Donald Trump’s many political rallies over the years, was referred to as “the greatest movement in history” by the president.

“This spirit is so incredible, it’s infectious,” Trump said.

The president concluded his speech, which lasted almost 90 minutes, with a look at the past and a view of the future and thanked those in attendance for allowing him to be their president during what he refers to as the “golden age of America.”

“We have already made unbelievable progress,” Trump said. “We’re going to hit levels of greatness that nobody’s ever seen before… It’s my honor to be your president during this very exciting time in American history.”