President highlights energy policy, more during Iowa swing

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 his White House remains mired in the fallout 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 “made a lot of people rich,” including some “that I don’t even like.” “If we lose the midterms, you’ll lose so many of the things that we’re 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 concerns about prices were exaggerated by his political opponents, saying, “They come up with this word ‘affordability.’”“First time you heard about it was like a few months ago,” he said.He went on and added: “You’re not hearing it so much anymore. You know why? Because the prices are coming down so much.”The visit was part of the White House’s strategy to have Trump travel out of Washington once a week ahead of the midterm elections to focus on economic issues facing everyday Americans — an effort that keeps getting diverted by crisis.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 News Channel — in which he said he was attempting to “de-escalate a little bit” in Minnesota.The latest effort comes as the Trump administration is grappling with the weekend shooting death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse killed by federal agents in Iowa’s northern neighbor. Pretti had participated in protests following the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good 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.Latest updates from Trump’s Iowa visit:Trump wraps up speechAfter about an hour on stage, Trump finished his speech. You can watch his full speech here:Trump on stageTrump walked out to cheers around 4:25 p.m. He opened by talking about his election success in Iowa and asked the crowd if he should run for a fourth time. Early in his speech, he boasted about the economy one year into his term — “Our economy is booming, incomes are rising, investment is soaring, inflation has been defeated” — and complimented law enforcement after an apparent protester shouted out, drawing chants of “USA! USA! USA!” from the crowd.He claimed about the protesters: “You do know they’re paid agitators, right? … Paid insurrectionists, really in some cases.”Watch his speech live here: WATCH: Trump touts 3 wins in Iowa: ‘Should we do it a fourth time?’WATCH: Trump promises to support year-round E-15Watch: US Rep. Zach Nunn’s remarks before Trump’s speech in CliveWATCH: U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson first to take the stageWATCH: Protesters take to street outside Trump eventTrump says Minneapolis victim’s parents’ support for him makes him feel ‘even worse’Trump called the fatal shootings of two Americans by federal agents in Minneapolis “terrible” and said that hearing that one was the daughter of Trump supporters makes it even worse for him.Renee Good, 37, was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7. Alex Pretti, also 37, was killed on Jan. 24.“I’m not sure about his parents but I know her parents were big Trump fans. Makes me feel bad anyway. But I mean, I guess you could say even worse,” he said.Trump made the comments Tuesday in an interview with Fox News in Iowa, where he had flown earlier that day to speak at a rally in the Des Moines area.WATCH: President Donald Trump speaks with supporters at the Machine Shed in UrbandaleTrump talks to supporters at Machine ShedTrump made a stop at the Machine Shed, where he spent more than 30 minutes talking to supporters, shaking hands and signing autographs.”You treated me well right from the beginning,” said to those gathered at the Urbandale restaurant before giving an interview to Fox News. As of 3:30 p.m. it was unclear when he would arrive at Horizon Events Center. While at the Machine Shed, Trump circled back to the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minnesota which, earlier in the day, he called “a very sad situation.”In comments likely to exacerbate frustration among some of his backers who are also strong Second Amendment proponents, he said: “He certainly shouldn’t have been carrying a gun. … I don’t like that he had a gun. I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That’s a lot of bad stuff.”Trump suggests his shakeup of federal officials in Minnesota may ‘de-escalate’ thingsTrump said during an interview on Fox News’ “Will Cain Show” of his sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota, “we’re going to de-escalate a little bit.”That’s significant since White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when questioned repeatedly Monday about Homan’s being dispatched to Minnesota, refused to say that doing so was an effort to calm the situation.The president added of Homan, “Tom, as tough as he is, gets along” with governors and mayors, even in Democratic areas.Trump also spoke of Bovino, who has been sent out of Minnesota. He said Bovino is “very good” but also that “he’s a pretty out-there kind of a guy” and “maybe it wasn’t good here.”Protesters filling up ‘Free Speech Area’Northwest 100th Street is closed from Swanson Boulevard to Hickman Road from noon to around 5 p.m. Police say the closure will create what the city is calling a “Free Speech Zone,” where over 1,000 protesters gathered safely away from traffic. That designated area was chosen because of limited public space near the Horizon Event Center.“We understand that people want to come and exercise their First Amendment rights, and we fully support that here in Clive,” said police Chief Mark Rehberg. “That’s why we’re giving them an area that’s safe, away from traffic, so they can do that.”WATCH: Clive closes road for ‘Free Speech Zone’ near Trump eventKCCI’s Amanda Rooker inside Horizon Events CenterWATCH: President Donald Trump lands in Des Moines ahead of speechTrump disputes staff and says slain Alex Pretti was not an ‘assassin’Trump was asked if the killed Minneapolis protester was an “assassin” as a key aide has claimed and the president answered “no.”The president added, however, that protesters “can’t have guns” as Pretti did and “it’s just a very unfortunate incident.” Trump has said he wants the death investigated.On Saturday, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller on social media described Pretti as an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents.” Vice President JD Vance shared the post on X as well.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 Second Amendment proponents.”He certainly shouldn’t have been carrying a gun,” Trump said of Pretti.He called it a “very, very unfortunate incident” but said: “I don’t like that he had a gun. I don’t like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That’s a lot of bad stuff.”WATCH: Sen. Chuck Grassley thanks Trump for visiting IowaTrump says he’s going to be ‘watching over’ investigation into Pretti’s killing, which he calls ‘very sad’The president was asked as he left the White House on Tuesday whether he thought Pretti’s killing was justified and he responded by saying that a “big investigation” was underway.“I want to see the investigation. I’m going to be watching over it, and I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself,” he said.He was also asked about Pretti’s family and said in response, he said: “I love everybody. I love all of our people. I love his family. And it’s a very sad situation.”Trump says Noem isn’t going to resignAsked by reporters as he left the White House on Tuesday for a trip to Iowa whether Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is going to step down, Trump had a one-word answer: “No.”He did not elaborate further.Democrats in Congress have called for Noem’s exit after federal agents fatally shot two people in Minneapolis protesting immigration enforcement actions.Trump sent his border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis and Republicans want to switch the subject to affordabilityTrump was last in Iowa ahead of the July 4 holiday to kick off the United States’ upcoming 250th anniversary, which morphed largely into a celebration of his major spending and tax cut package hours after Congress had approved it.Trump, speaking Tuesday in Clive 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’s visit to the state on 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.”I invited President Trump back to Iowa to highlight the real progress we’ve made: delivering tax relief for working families, securing the border, and growing our economy,” Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, said in a statement in advance of his trip. “Now we’ve got to keep that momentum going and pass my affordable housing bill, deliver for Iowa’s energy producers, and bring down costs for working families.” Some attending Tuesday’s event said they didn’t 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.“You can’t interfere with these people when they’re trying to enforce the law,” said 68-year-old Jerry Greif from Vinton, Iowa.Greif, a Trump supporter, said he’s glad there are three more years of Trump’s second term. He said there’s still room for some prices to go down but he finds the economy is “definitely improving” from what it was during the Biden administration.Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart emphasized Tuesday that Trump’s tariff policies have hurt Iowa farmers and criticized Iowa’s Republican leaders for cheering Trump on “as he has taken a wrecking ball to our economy.”“It’s 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,” 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’s 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’s 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 “hoax” to hurt him. At that event, Trump also griped that immigrants arriving to the U.S. from “filthy” countries got more attention than his pledges to fight inflation.WATCH: Trump supporter says farm economy ‘needs to be addressed’Competitive races in IowaAlthough 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’s four congressional districts have been among the most competitive in the country and are expected to be again in this year’s midterm elections. Trump already has endorsed Republican Reps. Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Democrats, who landed three of Iowa’s four House seats in the 2018 midterm elections during Trump’s 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. Kim Reynolds and Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst 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 for governor and for U.S. senator, respectively.Democrats hope Rob Sand, 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.Iowans hope Trump addresses farming challenges during speech in CliveCustomers at the Corner Cafe, less than a mile away from the Horizon Events Center in Clive where Trump’s event will be this afternoon, told KCCI they hoped the president would address the struggles farmers are dealing with.Paul Ferguson, who works in agriculture and voted for Trump, expressed his concerns about the farm economy, saying, “The farm economy definitely needs to be addressed.”Read more from the Corner Cafe.