Obama tells Ohio voters Trump's Iran war cost $2 trillion

Barack Obama told Ohio voters on Saturday that two years of decisions by President Donald Trump have drained $2 trillion from the federal budget, citing a conflict with Iran as the primary driver of the expense.

Speaking at a campaign rally to support Democratic candidates ahead of the midterm elections, Obama described the US-Israel war on Iran as unnecessary and unpopular. He argued that the administration made a series of poor choices, resulting in financial damage that he quantified at two trillion dollars.

The former president urged attendees to reject the current Republican leadership. He characterized the past two years as a period of chaos and incompetence, telling the crowd they now have the opportunity to declare that enough is enough.

Obama also addressed a dispute in Ohio's gubernatorial race involving Democratic candidate Amy Acton and Republican challenger Vivek Ramaswamy. Ramaswamy recently aired an attack ad featuring Acton's mother, Donna Arthur, who disputes Acton's claims of childhood homelessness and sexual abuse by her stepfather.

Acton maintains she has not seen her mother since 1978. Her brother has corroborated her account of the abuse by the stepfather, who died in 2004 after being charged with rape. Obama sided with Acton, noting that she has spoken movingly about her experiences with neglect and abuse.

The rally was shared on stage by Sherrod Brown, the former Democratic senator seeking to return to office against incumbent Jon Husted. Current polls show Democrats holding a slight lead in both Ohio races, though experts expect the final results to be close.