Trump's mounting troubles in Iowa could spell doom for Republicans

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is facing tough questions on impeachment and trade that have implications far beyond the mid-west

Art Cullen
Sun 13 Oct 2019 11.00 BST
Last modified on Sun 13 Oct 2019 12.53 BST

President Trump may have already lost Iowa and the rest of the midwest, but now he risks throwing the Senate into play.

Until last week, Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, was pretty safe, with high approval ratings and an ability to lie low in her re-election bid. Now, she is facing tough questions back home about trade and impeachment that are making her squirm.

Trump’s trade war with China caused John Deere, the largest employer in Iowa, to cut production by 20% and lay off 160 workers in the Quad Cities along the Mississippi River. Crop markets are in disarray as China was the largest consumer of soybeans until that market was shut down.

Farmers have been furious with Trump for waiving ethanol blending requirements, which the EPA has tried to smooth over with vague promises for the corn-based fuel. But the trust has been breached, and mothballed ethanol plants in north-west Iowa are unlikely to fire up again.

Farmers are anxious. So are rural communities, and so are union workers along the rivers. And it’s not just Iowa. It’s Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, too. Polls show Trump is tanking across those key swing states.

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