Trump focuses on farmers during Iowa campaign trip just ahead of civil fraud trial

MAHASKA COUNTY — Less than 24 hours before his civil fraud trial in New York, former President Donald Trump spent his Sunday afternoon in Iowa.

Trump, the commanding leader in polling on the Republican presidential primary both nationally and in Iowa, faces charges from the New York Attorney General that he and his family business committed years of fraud by overvaluing his real estate assets on financial statements to banks.

That trial, which will determine what penalties Trump will face, is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Monday in New York City.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, Trump was in Iowa: first for a rally that overfilled the Bridge View Center in the blue-collar Wapello County seat of Ottumwa, and later for a small-scale visit with Iowa farmers at a rural Mahaska County farm between Oskaloosa and Pella.

The farm setting leaned into Trump’s focus on agriculture policy during this trip. He repeated long-held claims of how great he was for Iowa farmers on agriculture and trade policy, and railed against electric vehicles of all kinds: cars, trucks, farm vehicles, boats … even military vehicles.

Trump also highlighted, as he often does in Iowa, the $28 billion in federal aid to farmers that he approved as president in order to offset losses they experienced while his administration renegotiated international trade agreements.

Trump mentioned that $28 billion during his remarks at the rally in Ottumwa, and again during his chat with roughly a dozen farmers.

“Who got a check out of that?” Trump asked the group.

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He also, both at the rally and to those farmers, took an ethanol-related swipe at one of his fellow Republican presidential candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis in Congress co-sponsored legislation that would have eliminated the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, which encourages ethanol production by requiring a certain amount be blended in the nation’s fuel supply.

Earlier this year in an op-ed published in the Des Moines Register, DeSantis pledged to “support giving drivers additional low-cost options at the pump, including higher ethanol blends such as E30 and higher octane options.” The op-ed was silent on the RFS.

Iowa produced nearly 4.5 billion gallons of the corn-based biofuel in 2022, and the ethanol industry supports more than 57,000 jobs in Iowa, according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

During his visit to the farm, Trump signed his name to a combine.

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At the farm, Trump also fielded a few questions from reporters. He said he has not spoken recently with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds — “I helped get her elected, though,” he said.

Back at the rally, Trump aired his grievance with Republicans for whom he campaigned in previous cycles, but who are not currently supporting his latest presidential bid. He was speaking specifically about DeSantis in the moment, but one portion of his comments could be construed as addressing Reynolds, who has thus far remained neutral in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

“Anybody that you got elected should support you,” Trump said at the rally. “I helped a lot of people in Iowa, a lot. And I haven’t had as much love from some of these political people. But I don’t mention names because I like to stay very, very non-confrontational.

“Some of these political people that are running that were begging for my support (saying), ‘Sir, please sir can you do a rally. Sir, please can you endorse me?’ … And then I heard they’re going to remain neutral.”

Also at the rally, Trump went on an extended rant against electric vehicles. He portrayed them as enemies of agriculture and mocked their need for periodic charging. He made multiple jokes about electric vehicle drivers wanting to go on long road trips but not making it far before having to recharge their vehicle.

Electric vehicles can travel from 110 to 300 miles on a charge, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. A majority of electric vehicles can provide 200 to 300 miles on a charge, according to J.D. Power.

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The rally was held in the heart of one of the counties that became known as Obama-Trump counties after they went for Democratic President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, but then to Trump in 2016 (and again in 2020).

Ottumwa is the blue-collar seat of Wapello County, which made one of the biggest swings among the Obama-Trump counties: it went for Obama by 13.5 percentage points in 2008 and 12 points in 2012, and then for Trump by 20.6 points in 2016 and 23.6 points in 2020, for a total swing of nearly 40 points.

Trump plans stops in Waterloo, Cedar Rapids Saturday

The former president and current Republican presidential frontrunner will be back in Eastern Iowa this week, with campaign stops scheduled in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids Saturday.

Trump’s campaign announced Saturday that he plans to appear at the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo on Oct. 7 and deliver remarks at a “Commit to Caucus” event. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. and Trump is expected to speak starting at 1:30 p.m.

The former president then plans to make his way to Cedar Rapids to speak at DoubleTree By Hilton Cedar Rapids Convention Complex downtown. Doors open at 2 p.m. and Trump is expected to deliver remarks at 4 p.m.

Ahead of his Iowa campaign event Sunday in Ottumwa, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Ken Martin and Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, held a news conference in Des Moines to criticize Trump for urging fellow Republicans in Congress to shut down the federal government to thwart the federal prosecutions against him.

Despite federal criminal proceedings being exempt from shutdowns, Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, last week stating: “Republicans in Congress can and must defund all aspects of Crooked Joe Biden’s weaponized Government that refuses to close the Border, and treats half the Country as Enemies of the State," he wrote. “This is also the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me and other Patriots.”

Congress on Saturday passed a bipartisan resolution funding the federal government for another 45 days, averting a government shutdown just hours ahead of a midnight deadline. The last-minute agreement keeps the government funded through Nov. 17, and includes disaster relief funds but does not include new aid for Ukraine.

Every member of Iowa’s congressional delegation, in both the House and Senate, voted for the short-term funding measure.

Konfrst, who leads Democrats in the Iowa House, bashed Trump for calling for a shutdown that would have led to hundreds of thousands of nonessential federal workers being furloughed and sent home without pay until a shutdown ends; forced active-duty members of the military members, federal law enforcement, TSA employees, air traffic controllers and other essential government workers to work without pay; and halted loans to small businesses and food assistance for tens of thousands of Iowa women and children.

“Every single time he posts, every single time he talks, he’s telling congress to keep the shutdown going because he wants to play politics with our lives and our livelihoods,” Konfrst told reporters.

Walz and Martin echoed Konfrst.

“This is the type of politics that we’ve come to expect from Donald Trump and these MAGA extremists,” Martin said. “They’ll do anything to hijack the government. They’ll do anything to prove a point including wrecking people’s lives.”

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com