Trump’s Closing Pitch in Iowa and Kansas: Alaska LNG Sold as Done, Iran Told It Will Be Hit Hard Eventually — in Two Red States Where Republicans Are Struggling

Two days before the midterms, Trump held rallies in Dubuque, Iowa and Salina, Kansas on November 1.

In Dubuque he promised to elect America First Republicans everywhere, and said the only thing he asks is that people go out and vote. He called the Democrats a totally corrupt party, and said the country must not be taken over by communists and jihadists who hate America.

The rest of the pitch was a list of what he says he has delivered.

Alaska, Presented as Finished

Alaska, Trump said, was totally dead until he came along. Now, he said, it has a pipeline with ships going to Japan, Korea, and China.

There is no pipeline yet. Alaska LNG is a project that the US and Korean governments describe as under review. Trump has made the same claim before, including when he campaigned for Senator Dan Sullivan in September.

One thing was missing this time. On October 14 he said Korea’s $50 billion investment in the project was part of the two countries’ trade agreement. In Dubuque he did not repeat that Korea has agreed to invest. Seoul’s last public position, in September, was that Korean companies will invest only if the returns justify it.

The project has also picked up an unlikely name. The Financial Times reported last week that Russia’s Novatek joining Alaska LNG is among the postwar business ideas the US has discussed with Moscow.

Tariffs and Mortgage Money

Trump credited his tariffs for a wave of foreign investment. Companies from Canada, Mexico, Germany, Japan, and Korea are coming back, he said. Canada is an odd name on that list: its goods face 50% US tariffs, and it has retaliated.

In Salina he said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two big government-backed mortgage companies, will invest $4.3 billion in Kansas. Both have been under federal conservatorship since 2008.

Iran: Goodwill, for Now

The sharpest line was about Iran. The only reason he does not want to finish Iran off, Trump said, is that he wants to show goodwill. He would like to save everyone’s lives if possible. But at some point, he said, the US will hit hard.

That came two days after he said the war will end soon, as long as Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. The US and Iran are exchanging messages through Qatar, and CENTCOM has strike options ready for after the vote. The rally line fits both tracks: an offer framed as patience, and a warning with no date attached.

Where He Chose to Be

Iowa and Kansas are farm-heavy states that Trump won by more than 10 points in 2024. This year, Republican candidates there are struggling.

• Iowa has an open Senate seat. Ashley Hinson, the Republican candidate, is one of three Senate candidates who broke with Trump over Russian diesel last month.
• Kansas got its second Trump rally in two weeks.

Trump had tried to cancel the Iowa and Kansas stops. When reporters asked whether his age and stamina were the reason, he was furious and put the trip back on the schedule at the last minute. He is 80.

The rally video included a short clip of his June 2019 meeting with Kim Jong-un at Panmunjom, when he stepped into North Korea. That clip lands two weeks before the APEC summit in Shenzhen, where Trump has said he may meet Kim again.

The closing pitch rests on things that have not happened yet. The Alaska pipeline is unbuilt and its financing unsettled. The $4.3 billion is a rally claim. The Kim meeting is a maybe. The Iran war is both ending soon and headed for a hard hit. Where he made the pitch says more than what he said. Two days out, the president spent his time in states he carried by double digits, defending ground rather than taking it. For the world, the promises do not expire on November 3. After the vote, Korea and Japan will be pressed to turn the Alaska claims into money, and Iran will find out what “at some point” means.

The Other Side

Final-weekend rallies are about turnout, not policy detail, and visiting states with close Senate and House races is what a party leader is supposed to do, safe states or not. Alaska LNG does have real momentum, with Korean and Taiwanese money announced and a Taiwanese purchase commitment. Holding off on Iran while offering talks through Qatar is a real choice for restraint. And restoring a cancelled trip after a question about stamina answers that question in the most direct way available.