Washington (United States) (AFP) – US President Donald Trump headed to Iowa Tuesday eager to show voters he cares about affordability — but his trip was overshadowed by anger over the deadly immigration crackdown in the neighboring state of Minnesota. Trump’s visit to the Republican-leaning state — famed as one of the first stops for primary campaigns in US presidential elections — is part of what the White House says will be weekly trips across the country.
“I’m going to Iowa and what can I say — the economy’s good, it’s all good, prices are coming way down and we have a lot of positive news,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House. His spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump would be visiting a local business before giving a speech on “affordability and on the economy.” “And I know he very much looks forward to being there, to meeting with the great people of Iowa, but also lawmakers as well,” Leavitt said Monday. White House officials said the speech would also touch on energy, prices of which Trump says are falling.
But the 79-year-old president’s attempts to talk up the economy risk being obscured by fallout over the killing of a second protester in Minneapolis this month. Most of the questions Trump faced as he headed for his helicopter concerned the shooting of nurse Alex Pretti by a federal agent just over three hours drive away from the venue of his Iowa speech. Accompanying Trump to Iowa was deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration policy, who described Pretti without evidence as a “would-be assassin.”
But Trump has sought to pivot amid the growing backlash, taking a more conciliatory tone, reaching out to the Democratic governor of Minnesota and mayor of Minneapolis, and sending his border czar to the city. He called the shooting a “very sad situation” on Tuesday and refused to back Miller’s “assassin” description — while insisting that under-fire Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem would not step down.
The political row over immigration, one of Trump’s core campaign issues, adds to the woes of a president already suffering in the polls on other subjects. The economy is a particular trouble spot for the billionaire property developer. Trump has promised Americans a new “golden age” fueled by tariffs on other countries, but until late last year he dismissed growing voter concerns over what he called the affordability “hoax.” He faced a fresh blow Tuesday as data showed US consumer confidence plunged in January to its lowest level since 2014.
In recent weeks, however, the White House has moved to tackle what was rapidly becoming a weak spot for Republicans ahead of November’s crucial midterm elections. Trump will start making weekly pre-midterm trips to sell his agenda around the country while cabinet members will also increase domestic travel, his chief of staff Susie Wiles said last week. Yet many of Trump’s campaign-style speeches have rapidly veered into diatribes about subjects like immigration, and he faces accusations from Democrats of being out of touch on the economy.
© 2024 AFP
