Trump: I want to win Iowa

CEDAR FALLS - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump highlighted two new polls of Iowa Republicans showing him the state's front-runner once again as candidates make their final sprint to the Feb. 1 caucuses.

Rather than try lower expectations, Trump told a crowd of about 2,000 people packed into West Gym at University of Northern Iowa that he wants to win the state and then the nomination.

'It's too close. I don't like it, so we have to change it,” Trump said of some Iowa polls that have given a slight edge to Republican Ted Cruz. 'I don't want to come in second. I want to win in Iowa.”

He also made his desire to win clear in reiterating criticisms of that closest competitor.

'By the way, Ted is totally against ethanol. Please remember that,” Trump said. 'And I'm for ethanol.”

Cruz said at a stop this weekend in Oelwein that it's 'utter nonsense” that he opposes ethanol, and described his position as phasing out the renewable fuel standard - along with getting rid of other mandated energy subsidies - after five years and raising the blend wall for fuels.

Trump also questioned whether Cruz is a 'natural-born citizen,” as he was born in Canada to an American mother. Trump stressed that it is an area of 'unsettled law,” though many legal experts have said Cruz is eligible, according to Politifact.

'It is certainly a complicating factor,” Trump said, adding, 'I want to win it very much on the merits, and I don't want to win it on technicalities, but that's more than a technicality, that is a big, big factor.”

Trump also knocked Iowans for their past support for caucus-winners who did not ultimately go on to win the nomination.

'You guys haven't picked a winner in a long time. I hate to tell you this. I don't want to be a wise guy,” Trump said. 'I want to have a mandate. If we win Iowa, I think we're going to run the table.”

He also criticized the two leading Democratic presidential candidates, saying he thought Hillary Clinton would be the nominee even though she 'should probably be in jail” and said he dreams of running against socialist Bernie Sanders.

His warm-up acts former Apprentice runner-up Tana Goertz and Iowa Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, also made clear Trump's desire to win by stressing the importance of caucusing for Trump and offering tips on how to do so.

Trump also hit on his usual topics in an abbreviated 38-minute speech and took a slightly more muted tone on some issues where he's been outspoken. He spoke of having Muslim friends and Hispanic friends and said many are good people.

He said that Mexicans crossing the border are taking advantage of the United States, but added that they're welcome if they come here legally. While Trump said the Syrian refugees could be like the proverbial Trojan Horse, he added that he doubts they are but stressing the need to be cautious.

Those statements paled to previous comments he's made about those two particular populations that brought out protesters to brave the zero degree temperatures to stand against Trump.

'I think we're seeing his hateful speech is starting to incite violence against people in this country, so even though, it's really, I mean, it's dangerously cold outside, it's really important that we take any opportunity we can to stand up to him,” said Chris Schwartz, of the progressive Americans for Democratic Action of Iowa that's supporting Sanders.

Schwartz said Trump's views are not only 'increasingly hateful and increasingly dangerous” but oftentimes simply vague about how he'd implement them.

'‘It's going to be huge. It's going to be great.' That's not convincing for, I think, most Americans,” Schwartz said.

Despite the cold, more than two dozen protesters showed up to chant 'Bigots can't be president.” Schwartz said he had few people challenging the protest.

'I think they're too cold to react,” Schwartz said.

In other areas during Trump's speech, however, he was just as outspoken as he is known to be. He stressed more than once his support for the 2nd Amendment, saying at one point near the end of his speech, 'When a sicko hears ‘gun-free zone,' one of these sick people, that's like candy; that's like ‘I want a piece of apple pie.'”

It was likely comments like that that drew Waterloo's Jordyn Harper, 17, to see Trump at UNI. The Sanders supporter said she attended the event, 'Just to hear him yell, not on TV.”

Tyler Rowe, a sophomore at University of Iowa, however, knew he wasn't likely to see the candidate he supports in Iowa City so made the trip to Cedar Falls.

'I think he's something different that this country needs,” Rowe said. 'He tells everything exactly like it is, you know, and I like that about him. I think a candidate who does that is honorable”

Rowe was one of a little more than half the audience who raised their hands ahead of the event when Goertz asked who planned to caucus for Trump. He's a caucus captain, so he's been knocking on doors to try to gauge support for Trump.

Rowe sees Trump as the best for the economy and believes that should be the focus of the next president.

'All the liberals are about social issues, it seems to me. I mean, those are good issues, but I think this country needs to focus more on the economy right now,” Rowe said.