At a campaign rally in Highland Heights, Kentucky, on October 17, 2026, Trump tied a federal outlay in a competitive House district to the midterm result. “If the Republicans win, the Department of War will be investing $100 million in the pharmaceutical company Antheia to revitalize a gigantic drug manufacturing facility in Winchester, Kentucky,” he said, according to the New York Post and Newsweek, and he said Democrats “wouldn't be able to do it.” The AP, in coverage carried by CBS News, called it “a new conditional promise.” Winchester is in Kentucky's 6th Congressional District, the state's most competitive race this cycle, the Kentucky Lantern reported. At the same rally Trump said, “I can do stuff that is unbelievable.”
The Pentagon's announcement does not match his description. The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital agreed to a conditional commitment for a loan, not an investment, of “up to $80 million” to Antheia, the company said in a release, and nothing in that release ties the loan to the election. A spokesperson for Gov. Andy Beshear said, “And if investments from the Department of Defense — or Trump's 'Department of War' (DOW) — are conditioned on the outcome of an election, it's time for the Department of Justice to investigate the DOW.”
No money has been withheld and nothing shows the loan depends on the vote. The entry records the president telling voters that a federal project in their district depends on which party wins, as he did in Ohio days earlier (see At an Ohio Rally a Day After Approving a Disaster Declaration, Trump Says He Is 'Not Going to Help' Democrat Amy Acton if She Wins, Then Adds 'Probably').