President Trump used a rally in Kentucky to promote Republican candidates and emphasise what he described as his increased power, as his party faces a difficult midterm campaign.
Speaking in Highland Heights on Saturday, Mr Trump backed candidates including Ed Gallrein, who is running for the US House. He also highlighted his decision to change the US government’s terminology for the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”.
“I don’t think I could have done this in my first term. This is a much more powerful term,” Mr Trump said. “Google wouldn’t have taken my call in the first. Now, they kiss my ass.”
He went on to say: “Well, I also changed the name of a lake in Canada to the Lake America,” referring to Lake Ontario.
Mr Trump’s claims about his influence came as voters express frustration with how he has used presidential power. Tariffs and the war with Iran have driven up prices, while more Americans are said to view the president as acting in his own interests rather than those of the country.
Control of both chambers of Congress is at stake in the midterms. A Democratic victory would create the prospect of investigations into the Trump administration, while Republicans have privately worried that the president could prove a liability for their candidates.
Mr Trump has placed himself at the centre of the campaign despite a series of controversial actions. He nominated one of his personal lawyers as attorney general, ordered military strikes on boats accused of drug smuggling, sought to put his name on the Kennedy Center and enriched himself and his family while in office, according to the source material.
At the Kentucky rally, he also said the war with Iran would end soon and predicted that petrol prices would fall below previous levels. The crowd cheered the remarks, which repeated an assertion he has made throughout the nearly eight-month conflict.
Mr Trump again promised that every adult American would receive $5,000 if Republicans won the House and Senate. The proposal would most likely cost more than $1 trillion, require congressional approval and add to the country’s annual budget deficit of nearly $1.8 trillion.
He added a new promise for Kentucky, saying that a Republican victory would lead the Department of Defense to invest in the revitalisation of a drug manufacturing facility in the state.
