Former President Donald Trump says it would be “horrendous” for Iowa farmers if 2024 rival Ron DeSantis is elected president.
“He would be a catastrophe of Nebraska and Iowa and anyplace else,” Trump said, “and a lot of other people also.”
During an appearance this afternoon in Council Bluffs, Trump blasted DeSantis for opposing the federal ethanol production mandate.
“Ron DeSantis totally despises Iowa ethanol and ethanol generally,” Trump said. “…Ending the Renewable Fuel Standard was one of his top priorities. As a member of congress, he wanted to end it and if he had his way the entire economy of Iowa would absolutely collapse because it would collapse if he did that.”
Trump also criticized DeSantis for vetoing $100 million out of Florida’s budget that would have been spent on conservation and rural land protection easements.
“He’s going to do that to Iowa and Nebraska and everybody else because that’s his inclination,” Trump said. “If you want to defend American farmers and grow more farm products in the USA, then you should vote for a very fine gentleman named Donald J. Trump.”
The DeSantis campaign has not responded to a request for comment on Trump’s assertions.
Trump listed a variety of steps his administration took in the ag sector, including the $28 billion in trade disruption payments made to farmers when China blocked ag imports as well as ending the estate tax for people who inherit farmland.
Trump was asked about the proposed pipelines that would carry capture carbon from Midwest ethanol plants to underground storage in North Dakota and Illinois. “Save our farmland from the CO2 pipelines,” a woman in the crowd told Trump.
“We’re working on that…It’s such a ridiculous situation, isn’t it?…If we win, that’s going to be taken care of,” Trump said. “That will be one of the easy things we do.”