Donald Trump showed up in Iowa today to try to paper over the damage his trade war is doing to the state, and his big plan appears to have been to throw some John Deere ripoff hats at people.
The Iowa event itself was another gaggle of Republicans sitting around a table boosting Trump’s ego while clapping for him, but what made the event bizarre was that Trump decided to end the roundtable by throwing ripoff John Deere hats with the phrase “Make Our Farmers Great Again” into the crowd.
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The fact that Trump is trying to give the Midwest $12 billion in welfare suggests that he understands that his trade war is costing him political support. Trump continues to claim that he is cutting deals with other markets for Iowa crops, but in the case of soybean farmers, other markets can’t make up for the loss of China, which buys 60% of Iowa’s soybean crop. If these tariffs stay in place, it will mean devastation by election day for Iowa’s soybean farmers.
Trump started a trade war that is economically wrecking his supporters. Those people are looking to him to make this right, but instead, Trump rolls into Iowa, throws some knockoff hats at them, and then goes back to Air Force One to plan his golf weekend.
Hats are not a solution, and with the Heartland of America turning against Trump, he may pay for his gimmicks in November.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
