Donald Trump says 'there's no way we lose Iowa' as he bashes Ron DeSantis in Des Moines

Donald Trump approached two men in the lobby of the Machine Shed restaurant in Urbandale, grabbed their clipboards and a Sharpie, and scribbled his signature before moving on to shake more hands.

Minutes later in his remarks to a couple of hundred supporters, he noted that he'd gotten Sharpie ink on his hand, which will be there "for two weeks."

"I hope you liked your signature," he said to laughs.

It was a fitting start to Trump's second trip to Iowa since officially launching his 2024 campaign — the first state since a March trip through Davenport and Des Moines.

He eschewed his signature high-profile, raucous rallies in favor of a series of more intimate stops — speaking to the Westside Conservative Club, a right-wing staple of the region, then lunching with pastors in Des Moines and stopping to speak to campaign volunteers in Grimes.

This evening, he'll sit down for a Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity.

A scheduled rally in Des Moines last month was canceled by his campaign, citing bad weather in the area as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made stops around the city.

Donald Trump remains confident of his support in Iowa, knocking Ron DeSantis after his trip

The former president took aim at DeSantis the day after his chief Republican rival made stops around Iowa following his official entry into the presidential race.

Trump touted his lead in polling over DeSantis, saying "there's no way we lose Iowa" after his previous victories here and his support among farmers and other key groups.

"We'd have to do some really bad things to lose at this point," Trump told supporters in Urbandale.

That didn't stop him from lobbing attacks at DeSantis, calling him "really bad on ethanol." Before taking several questions from attendees, he remarked that "these politicians … they don't want to take questions, they just read a speech," poking at DeSantis for declining to take crowd questions from the podium at events.

Trump also responded to DeSantis' recent comments that a two-term president could fortify a conservative Supreme Court, as well as other Republican priorities, over eight years.

"Who the hell wants to wait eight years?" Trump said. "Within six months, you're going to see a major part of the comeback. … When he says eight years, every time I hear it I wince. If it takes eight years to turn it around, you don't want him."

He criticized a common line of messaging from DeSantis, who frequently rails against "woke" businesses and culture that emphasizes diversity and equity.

"I don't like the term woke," Trump said. "Woke, woke, woke. It's just a term they use, half the people can't define it, they don't know what it is." (As recently as four days ago, Trump himself used the term to describe Disney in a social media post.)

Allies of DeSantis loomed in the background in Trump's first stop of the day — a "Team DeSantis" truck from the super PAC backing him, Never Back Down, was parked outside the Machine Shed.

The group also distributed flyers on cars attacking Trump on recent comments that a six-week abortion ban is "too harsh," The Washington Post reported.

Federal bureaucracy, U.S. foreign policy take focus in Trump's remarks

As Trump's Republican challengers train their criticism on the bureaucracy of the federal government, calling for downscaling or removal of departments and programs, he struck a similar chord Thursday.

Asked what he would do if re-elected to "restore respect to law enforcement" like the FBI, Trump called himself a "victim" and said "we have a very, very corrupt system" fueled by "years and years of entrenchment, years of radicalism."

"People are embedded in those positions and they hate us," Trump said, pointing to top officials in the FBI and Department of Justice. "They hate our values, they hate what we stand for."

Trump also focused extensively on foreign policy in his remarks, touting tariffs that led to payouts for U.S. farmers and his scrapping of NAFTA for a reworked North American trade deal.

He frequently pointed to the country's relationship with China, saying "we're so weak on China" under the Biden administration.

"I think no one respects us anymore," Trump said.

He argued that the war in Ukraine "would never have happened" under his administration, and warned that any future conflict between China and Taiwan could be prevented on his watch.

Trump reacts to Biden's fall on stage while speaking to Iowans

Trump didn't shy away from criticism of President Joe Biden, calling him the worst president in U.S. history and attacking almost every facet of his administration.

But he held back when he got the news Thursday afternoon that Biden had tripped and fallen during a graduation ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

From USA TODAY: President Biden trips and falls while handing out diplomas at Air Force Academy graduation

"He actually fell down?" Trump asked during remarks to a group of campaign volunteers in Grimes. "Well, I hope he wasn't hurt. The whole thing is crazy. You've got to be careful about that. You don't want that. Even if you have to tip-toe down a ramp."

Republicans in Iowa 'wouldn't have won without me,' Donald Trump says

While the GOP struggled in the 2022 midterms across the U.S., Republicans have fought off the tides in Iowa to continue gaining seats both federally and at the state level. Trump, who won Iowa in the 2016 and 2020 general elections, took credit for those victories in his remarks Thursday.

"I gave you some good people," he said. "A couple of them, they wouldn't have won without me."

Trump also laid claim to gun protection and the ethanol industry throughout the day.

"We wouldn't really have a Second Amendment as we know it without me," he said in Urbandale. And in Grimes, he said, "I was the one who saved ethanol."

"If I didn't get elected, ethanol was dead," Trump said. "Totally dead."

The head of the Iowa Democratic Party said in a statement ahead of Trump's visit that "Iowa should know better than to trust Donald Trump."

"After all, he promised to hold China accountable, but didn't, and in 2019, farm bankruptcies soared by 20% while exports fell by hundreds of millions of dollars," chair Rita Hart said. "His MAGA agenda failed our state and our communities. No amount of lies and spin will change the fact that Trump left Iowa’s small business owners, farmers, and families in the dust.”

Donald Trump returns to Iowa as Republican presidential field grows

The former president remains the frontrunner in the Republican presidential field, but since his last visit to Iowa, his challengers have multiplied and begun to amplify their pressure.

DeSantis swung through the state earlier this week. While his public remarks harshly criticized Biden, he aimed his sights on Trump in comments to reporters, arguing that "leadership is not about entertainment" or "building a brand."

Other Trump rivals are now making their entries into the race official — Trump's forming running mate and Vice President Mike Pence will declare his candidacy in Des Moines next week, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to enter next week at an event in New Hampshire.

Trump mocked some presidential hopefuls who are "polling at 1 or 2 percent."

"I don't know what they're doing," he said. "Some of them are pretty stupid. They say they're running for VP or the cabinet, maybe they are. Some of them won't get that."

More: 5 times Ron DeSantis took some pointed jabs at Donald Trump in Iowa while campaigning

In the days leading up to his arrival in Iowa, Trump and his allies have attacked DeSantis on a range of issues, from Social Security and Medicare to ethanol.

His campaign has shored up his support among Iowa state lawmakers, sending out a press release with quotes from three who have endorsed him; another lawmaker, Rep. Shannon Lundgren, endorsed Trump on Tuesday, citing his record on anti-abortion policies in a column for the Register.

As he ended his speech in Urbandale, Trump acknowledged the primary battle would likely grow ugly in the months leading up to the caucuses.

"We have a nasty race ahead of us," he said.

Galen Bacharier covers politics and the Trump campaign in Iowa for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Trump, back in Iowa, opts for smaller events and attacks Ron DeSantis