It was a vintage Donald Trump event when the president took his first trip to Georgia since returning to office by visiting the home-grown Coosa Steel Company outside Rome. Before a packed crowd in a warehouse dominated by a giant crane in the background, the president praised the success of his tariffs for bringing in trillions of dollars in revenue and saving businesses like Coosa from closing its doors.
Various Republican state lawmakers— including state Rep. Katie Dempsey and state Sen. Chuck Hufstetler from Rome were in attendance. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones—a gubernatorial candidate– was showered with praise by Trump. He told the mostly blue-collar crowd that Jones “was with me from the beginning and is rock solid.” U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach also made an appearance by lauding the president and Republicans in Congress for an “affordability record of bringing a wide range of prices down.”
Lieutenant governor candidate and state Sen. Greg Dolezal worked the crowd and Ambassador and University of Georgia football legend Herschel Walker made a rare political appearance. Also shaking the president’s hand on the stage was University of Georgia quarterback Gunnar Stockton, who was later mobbed by fans. U.S. Senate contenders Derek Dooley and U.S. Rep. Mike Collins were there, along with U.S. Reps. Barry Loudermilk and Brian Jack along with Small Business Administration head (and former U.S. Senator) Kelly Loeffler.
Aside from touting tariffs, the president praised the Big Beautiful Bill which became law— and which he said “is really a giant tax cut bill.” He underscored that in just his first year in office inflation fell to nearly a five-year low as apartment rental price growth slowed and gas prices fell, offering relief to Georgians and Americans gouged by the sharp cost increases during the Biden administration. Trump noted that when he was in Iowa two week ago, regular gas prices were under $2.00 a gallon. A gas station near the steel plant showed its gas price was $2.57 a gallon.
Rome is part of the GOP-dominant 14th U.S. Congressional District which currently has no congressional representative since Marjorie Taylor Greene quit in January.
District Attorney Clay Fuller was called to the podium to remind the audience that he is the Trump-endorsed favorite in the multi-candidate special election on March 10th.
And it wouldn’t be a Trump rally in Georgia if the president didn’t take repeated swipes at incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, whose name was immediately booed by the crowd. Ossoff is up for re-election this November.
