President Donald Trump spent Tuesday in Iowa, underscoring his strong private sector meant less need for government hiring, while 900 miles away in Washington, senators were calling for him to put at least one government official’s job on the chopping block: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Under the shadow cast by last weekend’s second fatal shooting of an anti-immigration law enforcement protester in Minneapolis, Trump tried to refocus on the 2026 midterm elections in an hourlong speech in Iowa.
In a state that has competitive congressional and gubernatorial elections this November, Trump told the crowd in Clive, Iowa, that the economy is “booming, incomes are rising, investment is soaring, inflation has been defeated” — and that he is “standing up for the workers and the farmers of our country” despite his trade and tariff wars.
To that end, Trump reminded those in attendance that he kept his promise to Iowans that he would repeal “the insane electric vehicle mandate, which would have obligated you to go out and buy an electric car, but it would have obliterated a thing called ethanol.”
But as his tariff war creates ripple effects for farmers, Trump also emphasized his trade deals as “giant wins for the farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers, like no other president has ever done.”
“That’s why I got such a tremendous vote from the farmers, and I love you too,” he added.
Trump went on to namecheck his bailout bill for farmers amid those trade deal negotiations, his One Big Beautiful Bill Act, his work to reduce the cost of pharmaceutical drugs, and John May, the chairman and CEO of Deere & Company, and May’s new factory in North Carolina.
“How is John Deere stock doing? Great? All-time high,” he said. “I got a lot of people rich that I don’t like at all. I’ve doubled their net worth.”
Trump did not dismiss affordability concerns as a Democratic “hoax” and “con job” as he has in the past, but he did point to Democrats’ role in exacerbating prices.
In addition, Trump made the point of asking for Iowans’ votes nine months before the midterm elections, telling the crowd he hopes they “remember us” in November.
“I’m here because I love Iowa, but I’m here because we’re starting the campaign to win the midterms,” the president said. “We can never forget what that group of morons did to this country. We can never forget, and we’ve got to win.”
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has pledged that Trump would campaign “like it’s 2024 again,” including with a similar trip to Iowa every week.
Trump appeared to revel in his return to Iowa, reminiscing that “exactly two years ago, this month, it was the people of Iowa who put us on a rocket ship back to the White House.”
“Should we do it a fourth time? Four victories? We got the right team over there,” he said.
The purpose of Trump’s trip was to promote his economic and energy policies, but, at least during his exchanges with reporters, the president was pressed on the shooting last weekend of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
As he departed the White House and then at the Machine Shed Restaurant in Urbandale, Iowa, before his speech, Trump distanced himself from Noem and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller‘s descriptions of Pretti as a “domestic terrorist” and “would-be assassin,” respectively.
Trump, too, downplayed his decision to deploy border czar Tom Homan, who himself is controversial after in 2024 alleging accepting $50,000 in cash from FBI agents pretending to be business executives seeking government, to Minneapolis.
Homan, who does not have a good working relationship with Noem, will replace Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino in the state.
“I do that all the time. I shake up teams,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Trump to push Noem out, with Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) imploring her to resign Tuesday night.
“I think the president needs to look at who he has in place as the secretary of homeland security,” Murkowski said. “You have a secretary right now who needs to be accountable to the chaos and some of the tragedy that we have seen.”
WHITE HOUSE TRIES TO SPLIT THE BABY ON MINNESOTA SHOOTING
But during his speech, Trump only touted his immigration record and criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Minnesota’s Somali community, which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is targeting in the state.
“She comes from a country that’s a disaster,” he said of Somalia. “They do have one thing: pirates.”
