In Iowa, Trump’s agenda collides with 2028 ambitions

Trump is only months into his second term in office, but already, ambitious Republicans are flocking to the state whose caucuses are expected to kick off the party’s 2028 presidential nominating contest.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Rick Scott, at fundraisers in Iowa this week, sought to explain to the Republicans who are poised to have the first say in picking the party’s 2028 presidential nominee why they want to put the brakes on the “big, beautiful” bill that contains much of President Donald Trump’s agenda. But Sue Cheek, a resident of Eldridge nearby, didn’t want to hear it. “We are the ones that elected Trump. This is what we wanted him to do. So let him do it,” she told CNN minutes before Scott took the stage at a fundraiser Friday night at a casino in Davenport. “We are in a critical place right now in our country,” said Cheek, who works at a credit union. “I don’t care how much it costs to make our country secure. Once we get that done, then we can worry about that other stuff.” Trump is only months into his second term in office, but already, ambitious Republicans are flocking to the state whose caucuses are expected to kick off the party’s 2028 presidential nominating contest. Paul spoke at a GOP fundraiser in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, and Scott followed with a fundraiser in Davenport on Friday. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will speak at the conservative Christian group The Family Leader’s summit in July. Days later, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will visit Des Moines to headline the state party’s Lincoln Dinner. The two senators arrived in Iowa while the fate of Trump’s legislative agenda rested in the Senate. Conservatives like Paul and Scott are demanding changes — with Paul seeking to remove a debt ceiling increase and both seeking much steeper spending cuts. Their positions put them at odds with many Republicans in this politically potent state who helped propel Trump to the White House.