President Donald Trump will travel to Iowa next week to kick off his series of weekly speeches on the economy—the most important issue to voters in the 2026 midterm elections.
The fact that Trump is starting in Iowa is a major sign of just how much trouble Republicans are poised to find themselves in during the upcoming midterms.
Trump carried Iowa by 14 points in 2024, an improvement from his 8-point lead in 2020. But Trump’s idiotic trade policy has hit Iowa farmers hard.
The state’s farmers rely heavily on soybean exports, which have fallen off a cliff after Trump started an unnecessary trade war with China—the largest purchaser of the crop. Now, for five months in a row, China has not purchased any U.S. soybeans, a move that’s devastating Iowa farmers.
Iowa has a number of critical races, including open-seat contests for Senate and governor, as well as two toss-up House races that could decide which party controls the chamber.
If Trump is having to campaign in Iowa to save those seats, then Republicans are in for a world of hurt this November as a number of races are being held in areas where Trump didn’t perform nearly as well in past elections.
And it’s unclear how Trump’s speeches will actually help his fortunes.
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His go-to messaging on the high cost of living is to call it a “hoax” and to tell Americans that they should simply buy fewer things. I’m going to venture a guess and say that’s why the most recent Economist/YouGov poll found that just 36% of Americans think Trump cares about them.
No matter how much Trump lies about prices going down, Americans know what they’re paying. It’s perhaps the one issue where Trump can’t lie his way to success.
But even if he could, Trump is unable to stay on message. That’s something we’ve all witnessed over the past two days as he rambled like a madman during a White House press conference and showed clear signs of cognitive decline in an equally batshit-crazy speech at the World Economic Forum.
It’s hard to see how Americans will watch that buffoonery and still vote for sycophantic Republicans who refuse to rein Trump in.
Indeed, a focus group conducted by Navigator Research found that people who voted for Trump in 2024 are now having regrets, turned off by his behavior and lack of progress on bringing down prices.
Ultimately, Trump’s approval is in the toilet as voters grow tired of his chaos. And Republicans are deluding themselves if they think sending Trump out on the campaign trail will help.
Republished with permission from Daily Kos.
