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Trump visits Iowa as affordability, tariffs and immigration enforcement fuel political clash
President’s stop comes as Iowans face rising costs, farm stress and fallout from immigration enforcement
Jan. 27, 2026 1:28 pm, Updated: Jan. 27, 2026 3:16 pm
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DES MOINES — President Donald Trump arrives in Iowa today amid mounting tensions over rising costs, economic uncertainty and aggressive immigration enforcement, as supporters credit his administration with easing inflation while critics point to higher prices, job losses and civil liberties concerns they say are increasingly shaping daily life for Iowans.
Trump will visit Iowa today to deliver remarks on energy and the economy, marking his first trip to the state this year as the White House ramps up travel ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump is scheduled to speak at the Horizon Event Center in Clive. Doors opened at noon, with the event expected to begin midafternoon.
Trump last visited Iowa on July 3, 2025, when he appeared at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines to announce the launch of a national celebration marking the United States’ upcoming 250th anniversary.
Economy, affordability in focus
Trump is expected to focus his remarks on energy policy, taxes and the economy — issues that have become flashpoints in Iowa as lawmakers and advocacy groups clash over rising costs.
Democratic groups and allied organizations held press calls Tuesday morning ahead of Trump’s appearance, arguing that administration policies and recent congressional actions have worsened affordability for Iowa families. A newly released report from Progress Iowa and the bipartisan Cost Coalition says Iowa has been hit especially hard by tariffs, rising energy prices and health care costs.
The report cites higher grocery and utility prices, increased health insurance premiums following the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies, and projected reductions in Medicaid spending that could strain rural hospitals and clinics across the state.
Republicans, meanwhile, have pointed to recent tax legislation as evidence the administration is delivering economic relief. The White House has said federal tax cuts passed last year will result in larger tax refunds this year, with some economists projecting average refunds could rise by $1,000 or more.
Iowa’s congressional delegation has highlighted federal funding secured for rural hospitals through the Rural Health Transformation Program, while Democrats counter that the grants represent only a fraction of the Medicaid reductions approved by Congress last year.
Democrats criticize Trump ahead of Iowa visit
Ahead of Trump’s visit, national Democrats issued a sharp critique of his economic record, arguing his policies have disproportionately harmed Iowa’s economy, farmers and working families.
In a statement, Democratic National Committee Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman said Iowa is considered “high risk” for a recession. A late-2025 analysis from Moody’s Analytics identified Iowa as one of 22 states either at risk of or already in a recession, citing a combination of slowing national economic growth, a weakening labor market and underperformance in Iowa’s manufacturing sector, a major driver of the state’s gross domestic product. The report notes that the state’s economic growth has lagged the nation for several years, with rankings in 2025 placing Iowa near the bottom nationally for growth.
New federal data, though, show Iowa posting strong short-term economic growth in late 2025. According to a report released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Iowa’s real gross domestic product grew 5 percent in the third quarter of 2025 compared with the previous quarter, ranking 13th nationally and tying Nebraska for the fastest growth rate among Midwestern states. The growth rate exceeded the national GDP increase of 4.4 percent, placing Iowa among 27 states that outpaced the U.S. average for the quarter. Personal income in Iowa in the third quarter grew an annual rate of 3.7 percent.
In September, the agency revised prior figures that shifted Iowa’s 2024 GDP ranking from 49th to 27th and its first-quarter 2025 ranking from 50th to 27th.
And sentiment among Iowa businesses remained positive at the end of 2025, according to the Iowa Business Council’s fourth-quarter Economic Survey. The group’s index rose to 63.2 — above the neutral threshold of 50 and slightly higher than both the previous quarter and the long-term average — reflecting optimism around sales, capital investment and hiring. Business leaders cited workforce recruitment and retention, along with federal regulations, supply chain issues and infrastructure, as their top challenges heading into 2026.
Rahman also pointed to projected declines in farm income — forecast to fall 24 percent, or about $3 billion, in 2026 — and a spike in farm bankruptcies.
The DNC also highlighted recent layoffs at agriculture-related manufacturers including John Deere, Bridgestone, Kinze Manufacturing and Tyson Foods, saying thousands of Iowa jobs have been lost amid what Democrats describe as the fallout from Trump’s trade policies.
“While Trump tries to sell his record in Iowa, voters aren’t buying it,” Rahman said, arguing the former president’s economic agenda has raised costs, weakened the state’s agricultural economy and contributed to job losses.
Democrats, former GOP official warn of ‘affordability crisis’
Democratic state lawmakers, a former Republican presidential aide and a Des Moines cancer survivor used a press call Tuesday to argue that administration policies and congressional actions have worsened an affordability crisis across the state.
Terry Holt, a former spokesman for President George W. Bush and former House Speaker John Boehner, who now serves as a senior communications adviser for the bipartisan Cost Coalition, said Iowa has been hit particularly hard by inflationary pressures tied to Trump’s agenda.
“Iowa is in the crosshairs of the inflationary agenda of the Trump administration, and there are really no states feeling it worse,” Holt said, citing rising input costs for farmers alongside cuts to health care and safety net programs. Those policies, he said, are driving up utility bills and insurance premiums for families across the political spectrum.
Holt said he is seeing “an alliance forming of like-minded, moderate to conservative Republicans who are increasingly at odds with this administration on a number of issues,” arguing that voters recognize “this current economy is not what they were promised” when Trump pledged to lower prices. He also criticized Iowa’s congressional delegation for “rubber-stamping” Trump’s policies, saying those votes have cost Iowans jobs, savings and long-term economic security.
State Sen. Zach Wahls, a Democrat from Coralville and U.S. Senate candidate, said Iowans are feeling the impact at grocery stores, on utility bills and in health care costs. He blamed tariffs for driving up prices for farmers and manufacturers and warned that Republican-backed budget cuts could strip health coverage from tens of thousands of Iowans while pushing rural hospitals closer to closure.
Lori Hunt, a Des Moines resident and breast cancer survivor who buys coverage through the Affordable Care Act, said the loss of enhanced ACA tax credits has made coverage far more expensive for people who rely on the marketplace after losing employer-sponsored insurance.
“We have a lot of words and a lot of spin coming out of Washington, but we don’t have action,” Hunt said, urging lawmakers to restore the credits to keep coverage affordable for families, farmers and small business owners.
Speakers on the call said Trump’s visit is likely to focus on selling his economic record, but argued that many Iowans are already experiencing higher costs and growing uncertainty — and are looking for concrete relief rather than rhetoric.
Republicans defend Trump’s economic record
Republicans pushed back on Democratic criticism, arguing recent economic indicators show signs of stabilization and renewed investment in agriculture. In a statement, the National Republican Senatorial Committee pointed to December data showing core inflation came in “less than expected” and remained at a five-year low.
The NRSC also highlighted a recently announced $12 billion in aid to U.S. farmers, who for months have been dealing with low crop prices, high production costs and diminished trade markets.
“President Donald Trump and Ashley Hinson are rebuilding the greatest economy in the world,” NRSC Regional Press Secretary Samantha Cantrell said in a statement. “Together they will work to restore the American dream and champion Iowa’s families, workers, and farmers.”
In an opinion column published Tuesday, Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Marion, argued that Trump’s return to the White House has lowered costs and raised wages for working families, citing tax cuts, lower energy prices and slowing inflation as evidence the economy is “back on the right track.” But reporting by The New York Times shows a more mixed picture on the ground in Iowa, particularly in agriculture and manufacturing — two pillars of the state’s economy.
The Times reported that Trump’s renewed trade wars have driven up costs for farm equipment and materials while cutting off key export markets, especially after China halted soybean purchases in retaliation for U.S. tariffs.
Iowa farmers have faced falling crop receipts, rising bankruptcies and prolonged uncertainty, according to farm groups and economists. That strain has rippled into manufacturing, with companies including John Deere and CNH Industrial announcing layoffs tied to reduced demand.
Since 2021, Iowa’s economy has grown well below the national average, and economists told the Times that continued trade restrictions are squeezing both farm incomes and the industries that depend on them — complicating claims of a broad-based economic rebound.
Laid off Iowa worker: ‘This economy is absolutely atrocious’
Iowa Democrats sought to draw a contrast between the president’s economic and public safety record and the lived experiences of Iowans, including a Burlington manufacturing worker and a longtime Iowa law enforcement leader.
Tracy Chew, one of 209 workers laid off last week from CNH Industrial’s Burlington plant, said her final day on the job will be April 2, marking the end of what she described as her family’s economic foundation. Chew said her husband, daughter and son-in-law all work at the plant.
“This economy is absolutely atrocious,” Chew said, adding that Burlington’s job market offers few opportunities comparable to the skilled manufacturing work being lost. She criticized Trump’s tariff policies, saying promises to protect American manufacturing failed to materialize and instead allowed companies to offshore production while selling equipment back into the U.S. with little accountability.
“Families like mine have paid the price,” she said.
Retired Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson, who spent 30 years in law enforcement and 21 years in the military, focused his remarks on what he called “anger, disgust and frustration” over recent events in Minneapolis. Thompson said his role as sheriff required him to uphold the rule of law, protect constitutional rights, ensure due process and coordinate with federal authorities — responsibilities he said are being undermined by current actions there.
“What’s happening right now in Minneapolis, to me, is unconscionable,” Thompson said, criticizing what he described as poorly trained federal agents using heavy-handed and deceptive tactics. He said such actions “should enrage any law enforcement officer that observes it.”
Thompson pointed specifically to the shooting death Saturday of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, saying Pretti was exercising both his First Amendment rights and his Second Amendment right to lawfully carry a concealed firearm when his life was taken.
The killing came just two weeks after another Minneapolis resident, Renee Good, was shot and killed by a federal agent. The two deaths have sparked protests in Minnesota and other states, with critics accusing the Trump administration of escalating violence as part of a broader immigration crackdown. Iowa officials have also weighed in, with Republicans urging investigation and calm and Democrats calling for federal immigration agents to leave Minneapolis.
Thompson said recent actions by federal agents reflect a breakdown of fundamental constitutional principles, and warned that the situation in Minneapolis should concern Iowans statewide.
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
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