Donald Trump was rallying supporters Saturday in west-central Iowa as part of his fall push to sign up supporters and volunteers before the state's fast-approaching caucuses that kick off the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump was headlining an organizing event in Fort Dodge, a GOP-leaning hub, the latest in a series of targeted regional stops aimed at seizing on the large crowds the former president draws to press attendees to commit to voting for him on Jan. 15.
He has visited five times since late September before the afternoon event set for Fort Dodge Senior High School, where people were lined up for hours to get a seat in the gymnasium.
Sue Hewett, who hasn't seen Trump campaign in person before, was concerned about being far back in line. “There’s isn’t anybody coming across like he does,” said Hewett, 68, who lives in Fort Dodge. “They don’t have the draw.” She said she was open to considering different candidates, but so far hasn't been persuaded by any of the other contenders.
While Trump has had a comfortable edge over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in early polls of likely caucus participants, Trump's campaign has been more aggressive in Iowa than any of the other early-voting states.
Trump said Thursday on a radio show that DeSantis was “doing very poorly" even after winning the endorsement of Gov. Kim Reynolds, who broke with the general practice of Iowa governors not to support a candidate before the caucuses. “I was really good to her and then she said she was going to remain neutral. And I said, ‘That’s OK,' but I didn't really want her particularly," he told host Simon Conway.
“Ron is doing very poorly in the polls and I guess he put a full-court press on her,” Trump said. “And she did that. And that's fine. I think it's fine. I don't think it's made any difference.”
DeSantis, who stopped by his campaign’s new office in Urbandale on Saturday, told reporters that Trump was making missteps by attacking Reynolds and focusing on larger rallies.
“I think it’s been a mistake how he’s not been willing to engage with Iowans outside of swooping in and doing, you know, a speech and then just leaving,” DeSantis said. “I think you got to get on the ground, you got to shake the hands, you got to answer their questions.”
DeSantis was campaigning across southern Iowa, moving closer to his goal of campaigning in all 99 counties. That’s a traditional marker some candidates have tried to reach to show their commitment to Iowa.
Despite DeSantis' push, Dale Mason, a construction worker from Fort Dodge, is a solid Trump backer.
“Trump’s already proven himself to me. If it works, then why mess with it?” Mason said. “I feel like it worked when he was in office.”
The 31-year-old single father said he lives paycheck to paycheck and worries about being able to feed his 12-year-old daughter or put gas in the car. Trump “made it easier for us to get by," Mason said, adding, "He supported us so I think it’s our turn to give back to him.”
Trump has made regular stops in Iowa, appearing at eight events before audiences totaling more than 16,000, according to Trump's Secret Service detail, in the past eight weeks.
It's part of Trump's 2024 strategy to stress organization more than his campaign did in 2016, when he finished a competitive second place.
Rivals, especially DeSantis, have been in Iowa more often as they hope to score a better-than-expected finish against Trump, who also leads in national Republican polls.
A recent memo to donors from DeSantis’ campaign suggested that DeSantis’ all-in strategy in Iowa was in keeping with his hope to rob Trump of “a big win in Iowa.”
___ Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
