Vote Republican, or else: How Trump is dangling government help on the campaign trail

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump says Georgia GOP Senate candidate Mike Collins can call him whenever he wants to ask for help for his state. But if Georgia reelects Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, Trump says it could be another story.

“There’s a big difference between that and Pee-wee Herman calling,” Trump said last week in Perry, Georgia, using his derisive nickname for Ossoff. The president acted out a hypothetical scenario at his rally where Ossoff called to ask for money for his state, with Trump responding, “I don’t give a damn what he wants.”

It’s been a recurring theme at Trump’s rallies this month: From North Carolina to Ohio to Kansas, the president has dangled the idea that his administration would be far less likely to help states where Democrats win in the upcoming midterm elections.

Trump has sandwiched the threats into rallies where he has announced goodies like new semiconductor investments, a submarine repair center and fewer limits on a certain type of diesel, underscoring to the audience the types of tangibles an all-Republican Washington could continue to deliver for voters should his party remain in power after November.

But the president’s utterances — part of a larger political strategy that’s anchored on making the midterms about himself and activating conservative voters — have also injected politics into processes that have traditionally remained apolitical, such as doling out disaster aid and providing benefits for veterans.

“It’s a losing strategy for the failed president to insult and threaten voters while he’s in town reminding them he made everything more expensive,” Ossoff told The Associated Press in response to Trump’s rally comments in Perry.

Asked for further elaboration on the pattern of remarks, the White House said Trump is committed to keeping a Republican majority in Congress so “he can continue to deliver on his winning, commonsense agenda.”

White House spokesman Davis Ingle cited Trump’s policies on taxes, prescription drugs, immigration and other policies and added, “Democrats have made it clear that they have no agenda to improve the lives of the American people.”

Yet some of Trump’s remarks have handed ammunition to Democratic candidates in key battleground races.

A sweeping 2022 veterans law signed by then-President Joe Biden allowed those facing health conditions linked to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina, to file for compensation.

In Greenville, North Carolina, earlier this month, Trump announced that $1 billion in cash settlements had been delivered to veterans and their family members who had been affected by the Lejeune contamination, and that he would direct the Justice Department to settle all remaining legitimate claims expeditiously — “if we win the House and the Senate.”

“So, if we don’t win, there’s no money,” Trump said. “If we do win, you’re getting it.”

Questioned afterward at the White House, Trump said, “If we’re not there, then somebody else is going to have to settle” the Camp Lejeune claims and he “can’t speak for another administration,” although his own Justice Department is handling the claims.

It wasn’t the first time Trump had made that type of remark in North Carolina, where his handpicked Senate candidate, Michael Whatley, has struggled to gain traction against Democrat Roy Cooper, a well-known former governor.

During a September rally in Gastonia, Trump said North Carolina was still waiting on more Hurricane Helene recovery money and added, “Now, if Michael loses, I’m not sending it,” even though he immediately said he was kidding.

Cooper has described Trump’s Camp Lejeune threats as “insulting and frustrating” while his campaign has gone after Whatley for refusing to denounce them. (Whatley, asked in a local television interview about the president's comments, said caring for the affected veterans and families is a priority.)

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The threat angered Jill Steen Dilgard, whose father and other relatives served at Camp Lejeune and were subsequently diagnosed with cancer and other health issues. She said in an interview with the AP that it was “totally unacceptable” for the president to condition care for those who had served in the U.S. military on the results of the midterms.

“It made me physically sick, and it infuriated me,” said Steen Dilgard, who helps advocate for other Camp Lejeune victims and their families. “You're playing politics and trying to bribe for a vote. So many hundreds of thousands have already lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands are suffering, and many have been given a death sentence.”

Trump has frequently announced state-specific perks at rallies, from protecting a steam-powered heat utility in Ohio to investing billions in Montana mortgages through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pardoning truckers in Alaska who had pleaded guilty to violating federal environmental laws.

But sometimes, he takes it a step further.

During a trip to Kansas to shore up GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, Trump noted to the crowd that he had granted a waiver that would temporarily allow year-round sales of E15, an ethanol-blended gas that is usually restricted during the summer.

“With Roger Marshall in the Senate, we will make year-round E15 permanent,” Trump said during a rally in Park City. “But if Adam Hamilton is in, I’m not doing it. That’s it. I’m only doing it for him.”

Although there is legislation in Congress that would allow for permanent year-round sales of E15, it can also be done at an administration’s discretion through temporary waivers issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In response, Hamilton's campaign did not criticize Trump directly but said, “Kansans are tired of our broken politics that treats public service like it’s all about opposing teams."

“Roger Marshall has been in Congress for 10 years and never passed year-round E15,” said Tyson Brody, a spokesman for the campaign. "When Adam is senator, he will look forward to working with anyone — including President Trump — to finally deliver on this and other important priorities for Kansas.”

Other times, the president’s threats to not help Democratic-led states have seemed less about policy and more about personal relationships.

In Vandalia, Ohio, this month, Trump again was noting how Republican officeholders in the state were pushing him on disaster relief and added that “when you are president, you have a lot of power over states.”

If Democratic gubernatorial candidate “Amy Acton got in, I don’t know anything about her,” Trump continued. “She’s never gonna call me. I’m never probably gonna work the same way. You just can’t. It’s just human nature. But I’m not gonna help her probably.”

Acton campaign spokesperson Addie Bullock said in response that the candidate is “committed to working with anyone, Democrat or Republican, to make life better for working Ohioans.”

At the Perry, Georgia, rally, Trump made clear he wasn’t joking about his threat to ignore requests from Ossoff.

“People don’t realize what a big difference it makes. And probably I shouldn’t say that because they’ll say, ‘This is not appropriate,’” Trump said, explaining that “having people that you like call you as opposed to people that you can’t stand” makes a big difference.