Former President Donald Trump teased a 2024 run Thursday night, telling a group of Iowa Republicans that he will “very, very, very probably do it again.”
His comment in Sioux City, a deep-red corner of the Hawkeye State, was met by thunderous applause. Trump paused for dramatic effect before adding, “Get ready!”
The former president braved 40-degree temperatures and spoke for more than an hour, ping-ponging on familiar themes, including crime, border security, education, fossil fuels, China, COVID-19, and election integrity.
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He also reiterated that he won the 2020 presidential election, securing more votes than he had in 2016.
“I ran twice, I won twice, and did much better the second time than I did the first, getting millions more votes in 2020 than I got in 2016 and, likewise, getting more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country by far,” he said. “And now, in order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very, probably do it again, OK?”
Trump was in Iowa to energize the GOP base and stump for Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is seeking his eighth term in Congress, as well as Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
He devoted a chunk of his speech to the consequences the country will face if Democrats retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections and urged Iowans to vote Republican. Trump described a hellscape filled with lawlessness that awaited the country if they didn’t.
“There is only one choice to end this madness,” he said. “No more urgent task than to stop the invasion.”
Trump later added that Republicans “need a landslide so big that the radical Left cannot rig or steal it.”
He also paid tribute to Grassley, calling him a “legend”.
Grassley, 89, is one of the most senior and respected members of Congress, and his seat had been all but assured in the past several elections. In fact, his Democratic opponent, Michael Franken, hasn’t received a dime or support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee because the race wasn’t considered competitive enough. That changed about a month ago when a Des Moines Register Iowa Poll showed Grassley leading Franken among likely voters 46% to 43%, within the poll’s margin of error. A similar poll, taken four months ago, had the elder statesman up by 8 points.
Voter turnout in Iowa will be crucial for Grassley to snag a win.
Ahead of Trump’s speech, the Republican lawmaker, wearing a green John Deere cap, told the crowd that if he were reelected, he would pursue an investigation into President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
“I’ve got several things to say today, but one thing that I want to start out with, so you can have confidence in me if I am reelected — I’m not going to give up on trying to get political bias out of the FBI, and I am not going to give up o my investigation of Hunter Biden and other Bidens,” Grassley, told a cheering crowd.
For his part, Franken has largely run his race on her own terms, untethered to directives from the Democratic Party.
“I’m the first candidate not chosen by Washington, D.C., going back four or five races or more in the Senate race,” he told the Washington Post.
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Trump also stumped for Reynolds, who received cheers from the crowd after she claimed, “Boys are boys and girls are girls.” Reynolds dropped a $900,000 ad this week that highlighted her “values” and repeated that Iowans know “boys from girls.”
Reynolds signed legislation earlier this year that banned transgender girls from playing school sports that aligned with their gender identity and not the gender assigned at birth.
Reynolds is polling ahead of her Democratic challenger, Deidre DeJear, by 17 percentage points, according to a mid-October Des Moines Register-Mediacom Iowa poll.
Thursday marked Trump’s second visit to Iowa following his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. Trump carried Iowa in 2016 and 2020.
Trump has been hitting the campaign trail hard in October and will continue to lend his celebrity and clout to Republicans who need it. Iowa marks Trump’s first of four rallies in five days as he tries to get his endorsed candidates across the finish line. He’ll also hold rallies in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
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“Trump’s most effective when he goes to places where he’s really popular and able to draw people out and pump up the enthusiasm,” longtime GOP consultant David Kochel told Fox News.
