Trump campaign plans Iowa blitz in push to clinch 2024 GOP nomination
Donald Trump’s campaign plans to significantly ramp up activity in Iowa during the first two weeks of January, according to people familiar with the matter, a move to ensure the former president delivers a knockout blow in the first Republican nominating contest of 2024. Dozens of Trump allies and advisers over the next month will appeal to Hawkeye State caucus-goers at rallies and events, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss the plans. The effort is expected to kick off in the next week, with stops planned in the cities of Council Bluffs, Waukee and Cedar Rapids, and then accelerate in the new year. Trump supporters hitting the campaign trail in Iowa include Ben Carson, Trump’s former Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who led efforts to oust Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, and Texas Representative Wesley Hunt.
Trump and his surrogates have scheduled four Iowa events between now and Christmas, and are continuing to plan additional ones before the Jan. 15 caucuses, the people said. The goal is to make Iowa “Trump central,” in the words of one person briefed on the matter.
While Trump overwhelmingly leads his Republican rivals, the push signals his campaign hopes to win Iowa by a large margin to snuff out any chance of his challengers gaining traction and drawing out the presidential primary beyond Super Tuesday in March.
Even without a primary opponent, Trump’s campaign did something similar in 2020, when more than 80 members of the then-president’s family, Cabinet secretaries, House lawmakers and senior aides — many wearing “Keep Iowa Great” hats — visited the state to pitch Iowans on a second term.
The Trump campaign wants to show voters it is not complacent and will work to earn Iowans’ vote, one official said. If Trump can dominate Iowa, he will maintain momentum and potentially winnow the GOP field.
