IOWA @GOP: 'We're riding a tiger': The Iowa GOP bets it all on Trump

‘We’re riding a tiger’: The Iowa GOP bets it all on Trump

The president’s trade war could cripple the state, but Republicans trust in him as negotiator-in-chief.


https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/25/iowa-republicans-trump-midterms-667171

By NATASHA KORECKI

06/25/2018 05:06 AM EDT
Donald Trump is pictured at Joni Ernst's 2016 Roast and Ride. | Getty Images

Then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures to then-Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad at Sen. Joni Ernst's Roast and Ride event on August 27, 2016 in Des Moines. Joining Trump from left to right are a number of Iowa Republicans including: Then-Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Branstad, Ernst, Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann and Rep. Steve King. | Stephen Maturen/Getty Images



By Derek Robertson

DES MOINES — Donald Trump’s trade war with China could cost Iowa farmers hundreds of millions of dollars and do untold damage to the state economy.

But you’d never know it from talking to Republicans at the recent state GOP convention here. When Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann asked more than 1,100 delegates a defining question — who was still behind President Donald Trump? — there was no hesitation. In an exuberant display of unity, more than 1,100 delegates sprang to their feet, whistling, cheering and offering prolonged applause.

Far from being panic-stricken, Iowa Republicans remain committed to the president as negotiator-in-chief. They’re convinced they have a direct line to the administration, the result of 18 months of careful White House cultivation in this early presidential state.

“There’s got to be a little apprehension about trade, and I would paint it this way: I’ve been asking for years for a president who would play brinkmanship, who is also an enigma,” Republican Rep. Steve King told the convention crowd. "Well, we elected Donald Trump, and I think we got both of those things.”

King then relayed assurances offered to him personally by Larry Kudlow, the White House’s chief economic adviser. “Give him time. Give him room,” King said. “We’re riding a tiger. I think it’s a little dangerous to try to get off.”

The Republicans’ patience with their president amid an escalating trade war is as remarkable as it is politically perilous in an agricultural swing state that has historically held a deep disdain for trade meddling. ...................................................




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