WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — GOP heavyweights, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are slated to appear at events in Iowa on May 13.
Trump, who declared his run for the White House late last year, is scheduled to be in Des Moines, an unnamed campaign official told the Associated Press. The former president will hold a rally at Lauridsen Amphitheater at Des Moines’ Water Works Park, according to the campaign. Attendees will be let in beginning at 2 p.m. Trump is expected to to speak at 7 p.m., following guest speakers.
DeSantis, who is expected to officially announce his presidential campaign later this month, will be in northwest Iowa at U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra’s (R-IA-04) annual summer fundraiser, the Feenstra Family Picnic. The event begins at 11 a..m. in Sioux Center. DeSantis will then attend an Iowa GOP event that evening in Cedar Rapids. Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann will lead a conversation with DeSantis, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Kirkwood Center.
The dueling campaign stops in the kickoff caucus state underscores the growing competition between the two frontrunners — at least for now — in the chase for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
RealClearPolitics’ latest average of polls shows Trump and DeSantis leading the pack, with the former president (51.3%) outpacing the Florida governor (23%) by 28.3 points. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who appears to be gearing up for a run, is a distant third, at 5.4 percent. He’s followed by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (3.9%) and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (2,3%), both announcing their campaigns in February. Several other declared and potential candidates lag the field.
Trump has trained his attacks almost exclusively on DeSantis, posting a repeated theme on his Truth Social platform: That DeSantis is “dropping like a rock in the polls.” Trump shared a CNN story with the headline, ‘How bad is it for Ron DeSantis? He’s polling at RFK Jr.’s level.’
A Fox News poll recently showed the governor at 21 percent support among GOP presidential nomination contestants, near where Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently announced his bid for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, stands in some polls.
DeSantis has opted to mostly hold his fire against the former president, with the exception of a few more subtle jabs. His political machine is beginning to ramp up, particularly in first nominating states, ahead of his campaign announcement.
A Blueprint for Freedom fundraising solicitation dropped on Iowa voter inboxes over the weekend asserts DeSantis “will never back down from a fight, and he’ll always fight with fire.”
“When fascist Fauci shut down the nation, DeSantis kept Florida FREE and open for business. When the leftist media launched a smear campaign against him, he proved them wrong and led Florida to new heights,” states the appeal, sent from Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting the governor.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Photo “Ron DeSantis” by Governor Ron DeSantis. Background Photo “Iowa State Capitol” by Stephen Matthew Milligan. CC BY-SA 3.0.
