‘United in grief and prayer’: Trump stops in Iowa for briefing on deadly storm in Iowa before Arizona visit
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump offered the nation’s support Tuesday for areas of Iowa heavily damaged by last week’s deadly storm, which killed three people, destroyed huge swaths of cropland and left half a million people without power.
“All Americans are united in grief and prayer for the precious life that was lost,” Trump said during a briefing in Cedar Rapids, which was hit particularly hard.
Trump’s consoling comments in Iowa contrasted sharply with the attacks he lobbed at Democrats on Tuesday morning, after the first day of their presidential nominating convention.
Trump stopped in Cedar Rapids on his way to Arizona, where he plans to deliver remarks on immigration as part of his strategy to counter the buzz surrounding the Democratic National Convention, which opened Monday night.
The trip takes Trump to two states he won four years ago over Hillary Clinton but which are now in play. Trump won Iowa by more than 9 percentage points and Arizona by 3.5 percentage points. Current polls show him in a tight race with his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, in both places now.
The Real Clear Politics average of recent state polls shows Trump slightly ahead in Iowa (1.7 percent) and Biden slightly ahead in Arizona (2.0 percent). Those results are within the polling margins of error.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who is locked into a tough re-election battle of her own, appeared with Trump at the Cedar Rapids event.
Trump did not mention the presidential campaign during a roundtable with Iowa state officials that focused on disaster relief. Instead, he praised Iowans’ resilience in coping withthe storm damage.
“From the depths of this grave hardship, we will rebuild even stronger than before,” he said. “We’re going to be in fantastic shape in a very short period of time.”
On Monday, Trump approved part of Iowa’s disaster aid request. The approval did not include assistance for private property owners. That approval may yet come, said Gov. Kim Reynolds, who described the storm – called a derecho – as “basically a 40-mile tornado” that ripped through the state at 112 mph.
Reynolds’ total disaster aid application sought relief for nearly $4 billion in damages. Some 10 million acres of cropland were heavily damaged.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he traveled 150 miles across the state and saw the devastation firsthand.
“I’ve seen corn flat on the ground in my 50 years of farming,” he said. “But I have never seen it mile after mile, and just flat on the ground. And very little of it recoverable, I think.”
Biden also called Iowa officials after the storm, including U.S. Rep. Abby Finkenauer, D-Iowa
“One photo-op in Iowa does not make up for four years of failed leadership from this White House,” Biden for President Iowa State Director Lauren Dillon said in a statement.
Later Tuesday, Trump is expected continue a nationwide tour to try to sap some of the media attention away from this week’s Democratic convention. The president will visit Yuma, Arizona, to discuss immigration and border issues.
During a Monday speech in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Trump claimed Biden and his Democratic allies want to raise taxes, increase government regulations, “confiscate” guns, and “protect the criminals.”
“We are in a fight for the survival of our nation and civilization itself,” Trump said.
Democrats have cast the election in equally apocalyptic terms. Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told the Democratic convention Monday “the future of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake.”
Sanders also said Trump “is leading us down the path of authoritarianism.”
Contributing: The Des Moines Register