Trump goes after DeSantis, Haley while predicting a caucus win in Iowa

Former President Donald Trump, while continuing to profess confidence he will win the Iowa caucuses, nevertheless railed against his Republican rivals for the 2024 presidential race during a rally Sunday in Sioux City.

The former president spoke at the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City, his eighth trip to the first-in-the-nation state as he aims to secure support for the 2024 Iowa Republican caucuses. Trump repeated calls that he is confident about winning the caucuses Jan. 15, 2024, pointing to his administration’s support for farmers.

“I was quite disrespectful to Iowa — I’d like to apologize, because I go around saying ‘of course we’re going to win Iowa,’” Trump said. “And people say, ‘you cannot assume that.’ … I got Iowa and the farm states, Nebraska, Wisconsin and others. I got, I got farmers $28 billion from China. I said there’s no way Iowa is going to be against Trump.”

Trump, however, delivered what some might consider a slight to the Iowa community he was visiting, instead naming a South Dakota city. He opened his event in Sioux City by saying hello to “a place where we’ve done very well, Sioux Falls.” The former president corrected himself several minutes later.

Trump claimed other Republican presidential candidates will not defend Iowa farmers and the ethanol industry as well as he did as president. Trump said DeSantis, his closest rival for the GOP presidential nomination, is “totally against ethanol,” referencing his opposition to ethanol subsidies while serving as a U.S. representative.

In a column published by the Des Moines Register in September, DeSantis said he would support giving consumers more options at the gas pump, “including higher ethanol blends such as E30 and higher octane options.”

But Trump said that Iowans should not trust DeSantis changing his stance on the issue.

“One thing about a politician: If they’re against something, and then they come out (for it) because you’re in the middle of election, they always go to where they first came from,” Trump said. “That means if he’s against ethanol then that means he’s against ethanol. He will kill ethanol.”

While Trump said he is not concerned about DeSantis’ campaign, the former president launched an ad campaign Saturday in Iowa targeting DeSantis.

The Make America Great Again super PAC supporting Trump made an ad buy over over $100,000 that will focus on criticizing DeSantis on supporting statehood for Puerto Rico, according to the New York Times. The ad says DeSantis “sided with the liberals’ power play” on potentially adding to more Democrats to the U.S. Senate.

“DeSantis sided with the liberals and sold out Iowa conservatives,” the ad says. “Ron DeSantis is just plain wrong.”

The DeSantis campaign has said the ads show the Florida governor is a significant threat to Trump’s lead ahead of the Iowa caucuses. The latest ad is a shift from the MAGA PAC strategy announced in August to move from attacking Republican rivals for the presidential nomination to focusing on President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee in the 2024 general election.

In Sioux City, Trump also said he believes DeSantis — who he calls “DeSanctimonious” — will fall from second to third in polls. Trump has consistently led by double digits in both national and early state polling, and DeSantis earned the second-highest support, according to aggregated data from FiveThirtyEight.

But Haley, a former member of the Trump administration and former South Carolina governor, has risen in some polls — climbing to second place in a New Hampshire and South Carolina polls in October as more focus shifts to international affairs amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Trump spoke derisively about Haley, using his nickname “bird brain” for Republican candidate who served as ambassador to the United Nations during his presidency. He criticized her for running despite saying after she left the U.N. post that she would not if Trump sought the nomination again in 2024. Trump also claimed he appointed her to the position so that then-lieutenant governor Henry McMaster could take over as South Carolina governor.

“She’s a real highly overrated person,” Trump said. “But DeSanctimonious is really overrated … I think it’s got to be one of the worst campaigns in history.”

Trump recalls threatening NATO allies

Trump also highlighted his administration’s foreign policy positions, speaking about his time working with other NATO countries as president. The former president said the U.S. was “way over our heads with NATO,” supplying more funding than allied countries. He said he told the alliance members that they needed to make up for delinquent payments or that the U.S. would not continue protecting them against foreign adversaries.

“I remember the head of a country stood up and said, ‘Does that mean Russia attacks, you will not be there?’” he said, saying he replied, “That’s right. That’s what it means.”

He also said his 2016 rival, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said his demeanor would lead to increased international conflicts. But under his administration, Trump said, no wars broke out, where as during Biden’s tenure, conflicts have escalated for U.S. allies Israel and Ukraine.

“I was the first president in decades who didn’t start a war, right?” Trump told the crowd. “We didn’t start a war — others started wars, stupid wars.”

Trump touts endorsements

Trump’s campaign also touted new endorsements Saturday, including from former 2016 GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson as well as 100 Iowa faith leaders.

Iowa Rep. Luana Stoltenberg, a ministry leader representing Davenport, said in a statement Sunday that she endorses Trump because “I know he will deliver.”

“In this day of chaos and corruption, with RINOs rampant, we need someone we can trust,” Stoltenberg said in a release from the Trump campaign. “President Trump has proven what he can do. He is the most pro-life President we have ever had. We had no wars and America’s economy was thriving. We were drilling and using our own oil, and jobs were coming back to America. Our borders were controlled, and our enemies feared us. We need President Trump back and right away.”

Trump said his campaign has the best chance of beating President Joe Biden, aiming for a rematch of the 2020 race when he lost to the Democratic challenger. Trump repeated false claims that the election was “rigged” in 2020, but said that he will not let that happen in 2024.

“Every time they indict is a great badge of honor because I’m being indicted for you,” Trump said. “And never forget. Our enemies want want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom. It’s very simple. … In the end, they’re not after me, they’re after you. I just happened to be standing in their way and we’re gonna keep standing right in their way.”

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: [email protected]. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.