Trump rallies for Iowa GOP candidates in Sioux City

SIOUX CITY — Fans of former President Donald Trump came to his rally Thursday at the at the Sioux Gateway Airport from a variety of cities and states, but supporters had similar answers when asked whether they would back a 2024 presidential run by him.

"Trump all the way," said Jeremy Mulder of Marcus in Northwest Iowa.

"I would be all for him," said Renee Danielson, of Le Mars.

"Absolutely. President Trump," said Cathy Brown, who came up from Missouri

Rollie Dalin made the drive from North Dakota. "As of now, I probably would support him," Dalin said.

The Bloomberg news service reported Thursday that Trump would make an announcement about his intentions “soon.”

Trump's former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway said she advised her former boss to delay launching another run until after the midterm elections as not to distract from Republican efforts to take control of Congress.

"I give him a ton of credit for not announcing this year, for not stepping in the way of the midterm candidates, which a lot of people around him — who frankly need him for their next meal and their next gig and their next center of power" — may not have recommended, Conway said Thursday at a breakfast event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

The former president has teased for months that he plans to make another White House run, routinely telling supporters they will "be very happy" with his decision. He's sent stronger signals in recent weeks, saying at a rally in Texas on Oct. 22 "I will probably have to do it again."

But he may have Republican competition.

Beating him to test the waters in Iowa this election cycle are GOP candidates including his former vice president, Mike Pence; his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley; his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo; U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.; U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida; U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas; and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan

Trump’s visit to Northwest Iowa — a solidly GOP region — was intended to bolster the campaigns of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and Gov. Kim Reynolds, Republicans who are both up for re-election Nov. 8.

While the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found Reynolds had a 17 percentage point lead over Democratic challenger Deidre DeJear, the poll found Grassley was facing his closest Senate race ever — a 3-point lead over former Navy Admiral Mike Franken, a Democrat from Sioux City.

Along with speeches from Grassley and Reynolds, there were also appearances Thursday by former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Brenna Bird, who is challenging Democratic Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller.

Trump has plans to follow up his Sioux City stop with events in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, which all have U.S. Senate races on the ballot this year. Though Trump wasn't set to speak until 7 p.m. — and he was running late — more than 100 rallygoers were in line to get in to see him by 9 a.m.

Once attendees were allowed in, after 2 p.m., big screens on either side of the stage showed videos castigating the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection of the U.S. Capitol and touted Trump's past support for Grassley.

Outside of the venue, vendors selling flags saying "Trump 2024," "Let's Go Brandon" (a phrase denouncing President Joe Biden) and "White Lives Matter." Supporters strolled around in T-shirts with slogans such as "Mean Tweets and Cheap Gas."

Mulder said the most concerning issue for him in this election is inflation. "Food inflation. Gas prices. You name it," he said.

Tanya Davidson, who came over from South Dakota, had a broader concern about the state of the nation as a whole.

"The loss of American freedom … we went from the greatest country this world has ever known to in the toilet under Biden," she said.

Bloomberg contributed to this report.