CLIVE, Iowa (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump on Tuesday made his first big pitch ahead of this year’s midterm elections on his administration’s economic performance, even as in Minneapolis over a second fatal shooting by federal immigration officers this month.
Trump gave a speech in a suburb of Des Moines where he talked up the tax cuts he signed into law last year and took credit for the soaring performance of the stock market, saying he 鈥渕ade a lot of people rich,鈥� including some “that I don鈥檛 even like.”
鈥淚f we lose the midterms, you鈥檒l lose so many of the things that we鈥檙e talking about,” Trump told Iowans, who are expected to reflect their feelings on his presidency when they vote in two highly competitive congressional races this year.
The trip for the Republican president was part of a White House push to focus more on affordability ahead of elections in November that will determine control of Congress.
But the president once again suggested that were exaggerated by his political opponents, saying, 鈥淭hey come up with this word 鈥榓ffordability.鈥欌��
鈥淔irst time you heard about it was like a few months ago,鈥� he said.
He went on and added: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not hearing it so much anymore. You know why? Because the prices are coming down so much.鈥�
The visit was part of the White House鈥檚 strategy to have Trump travel out of Washington once a week ahead of the midterm elections to focus on economic issues facing everyday Americans 鈥� an effort that keeps getting .
On the ground in Iowa, Trump first made a stop at a local restaurant, where he met some locals and sat for an interview with Fox 海角社区app Channel 鈥� in which he said he was attempting to 鈥渄e-escalate a little bit鈥� in Minnesota.
The latest effort comes as the Trump administration is grappling with the weekend shooting death of Alex Pretti, in Iowa’s northern neighbor. Pretti had participated in protests following of by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Even as some top administration officials moved quickly to malign Pretti, Trump said he was waiting until an investigation into the shooting was complete.
Trump calls Pretti killing ‘sad situation’
As Trump left the White House on Tuesday to head to Iowa, he was repeatedly questioned by reporters about Pretti’s killing. Trump disputed language used by his own deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, who on social media described Pretti as an 鈥渁ssassin鈥� who 鈥渢ried to murder federal agents.鈥� Vice President JD Vance shared the post.
Trump, when asked Tuesday if he believed Pretti was an assassin, said, 鈥淣o.鈥�
When asked if he thought Pretti’s killing was justified, Trump called it 鈥渁 very sad situation鈥� and said a 鈥渂ig investigation鈥� was underway.
“I鈥檓 going to be watching over it, and I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself,鈥� he said.
He also said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was quick to cast Pretti as a violent instigator, would not be resigning.
Later, as he greeted diners at an Iowa restaurant, Trump weighed in further with comments that were likely to exacerbate frustration among some of his backers who are also strong .
“He certainly shouldn鈥檛 have been carrying a gun,鈥� Trump said of Pretti.
He called it a 鈥渧ery, very unfortunate incident” but said: “I don鈥檛 like that he had a gun. I don鈥檛 like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That鈥檚 a lot of bad stuff.鈥�
Republicans want to switch the subject to affordability
Trump was last in Iowa ahead of the July 4 holiday to kick off the United States鈥� , which morphed largely into a celebration of his major spending and tax cut package hours after .
Trump, speaking Tuesday in Clive, a suburb of Des Moines, talked up the wide-ranging tariffs he imposed on nearly all U.S. trading partners. He also promoted the deals he’s struck with drugmakers to get them to lower costs on some prescription drugs.
Republicans are hoping that Trump鈥檚 visit to the state Tuesday draws focus back to that tax bill, which will be a key part of their pitch as they ask voters to keep them in power in November.
Some attending Tuesday鈥檚 event said they didn鈥檛 think immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota were being given a chance to do their job, even as they expressed sympathy over the two shooting deaths that have occurred in Minneapolis.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 interfere with these people when they鈥檙e trying to enforce the law,鈥� said 68-year-old Jerry Greif from Vinton, Iowa.
Greif, a Trump supporter, said he鈥檚 glad there are three more years of Trump鈥檚 second term. He said there鈥檚 still room for some prices to go down but he finds the economy is 鈥渄efinitely improving鈥� from what it was during the Biden administration.
Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart emphasized Tuesday that Trump鈥檚 tariff policies have hurt Iowa farmers and criticized Iowa鈥檚 Republican leaders for cheering Trump on 鈥渁s he has taken a wrecking ball to our economy.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 laughable that Trump is coming here today to talk about affordability of all things when Iowans are literally paying more because of his disastrous policies,鈥� Hart said.
Trump last year made stops in Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina to try to talk about affordability as the White House tried to marshal the president鈥檚 political power to appeal to voters in key swing states.
But Trump’s penchant for going off-script has sometimes taken the focus off cost-of-living issues and his administration鈥檚 plans for how to combat it. In Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, Trump insisted that inflation was no longer a problem and that Democrats were using the term affordability as a 鈥渉oax鈥� to hurt him. At that event, Trump also griped that immigrants arriving to the U.S. from got more attention than his pledges to fight inflation.
Competitive races in Iowa
Although it was a swing state just a little more than a decade ago, Iowa in recent years has been reliably Republican in national and statewide elections. Trump won Iowa by 13 percentage points in 2024 against Democrat Kamala Harris.
Still, two of Iowa鈥檚 four congressional districts have been among the most competitive in the country and are expected to be again in this year鈥檚 midterm elections. Trump already has endorsed Republican Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Democrats, who landed three of Iowa’s four House seats in during Trump鈥檚 first term, see a prime opportunity to unseat Iowa incumbents.
This election will be the first since 1968 with open seats for both governor and U.S. senator at the top of the ticket after Republican Gov. and Republican U.S. Sen. opted out of reelection bids. The political shake-ups have rippled throughout the state, with Republican Reps. Randy Feenstra and Ashley Hinson seeking new offices and , respectively.
Democrats hope , the lone Democrat in statewide office who is running for governor, will make the entire state more competitive with his appeal to moderate and conservative voters and his $13 million in cash on hand.
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Kim and Price reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Maya Sweedler in Washington and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.
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