SIOUX CENTER, Iowa — Ron DeSantis declined to go after Donald Trump directly on Saturday during his most high-profile swing through Iowa to date. Fortunately for the Florida governor, the prospect of a literal tornado kept Trump away — and out of the spotlight.
The anticipated Hawkeye State split screen between two candidates leading Republican polls failed to materialize as Trump canceled his rally amid severe weather warnings, giving DeSantis, who has yet to announce his campaign, all the attention as he traversed the state.
After an onslaught of negative coverage about DeSantis’ campaign tanking before it takes off, sliding poll numbers and Trump reveling after his primetime CNN town hall Wednesday, the Florida governor finally caught a break this weekend. There was no sold-out rally across the state to which DeSantis’ crowd size would be compared. Trump, that night, wouldn’t get another televised speech. DeSantis, meanwhile, tried to subtly make his case against Trump.
“If we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again,” DeSantis told a Sioux Center crowd, one of several veiled jabs at Trump. “And I think it’ll be very difficult to recover from that defeat.”
At the fundraising event for GOP Rep. Randy Feenstra, DeSantis called for Republicans to “reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years” and lambasted anyone who believes governing is about “entertaining” or “talking on social media.”
But 200 miles southeast of DeSantis, Trump fans began lining up hours before the scheduled outdoor rally in Des Moines. They continued waiting for Trump behind metal barriers even as the skies opened, soaking a modest crowd of diehard supporters during the afternoon downpour. Multiple people reported they had to “wring out” their clothing afterward.
“What a muddy, wet nightmare,” said Kelly Koch, chair of the Dallas County Republican Party, who had gotten to Water Works Park in Des Moines at 11 a.m. She called it “smart” for Trump’s campaign to call off the event, where standing water had become a problem at the low-lying outdoor venue.
Earlier in the day, Trump had bragged on social media that Fox News was planning to air his full rally. But Trump lost the airtime — if Fox was indeed planning to go live — when the event was canceled.
“Everyone is saying when he comes back, it’ll be bigger and better,” Koch said. “You know Trump.”
The scene was a reminder of the lengths to which Trump’s loyal base will go to support and defend him, and that DeSantis has a tough road ahead convincing a sizable chunk of the Republican electorate to move on.
Perry Johnson, a wealthy longshot candidate not registering in polls, set up his own campaign event across from the Trump rally location and took photos with a handful of the former president’s supporters, saying in a statement afterward that “the rain gave way to a beautiful afternoon,” and it was “truly a shame Trump canceled his event.” Trump posted to his social media website a video of a storm taken a few hours earlier outside Des Moines — an apparent attempt to assure his followers the rally cancellation was warranted.
At the midday fundraiser, DeSantis glad-handed inside a classic car museum in Sioux Center and ordered deviled eggs from a food truck outside. He threw on an apron and flipped burgers with Feenstra and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, just long enough for reporters to quickly document the moment. DeSantis attempted to seize the opportunity to change a months-long narrative that he’s a flat candidate struggling to embrace retail politics.
DeSantis' attempts to connect with voters in Iowa — including making an unannounced stop at a Pizza Ranch restaurant — show he is at least attempting to up his game ahead of his anticipated launch. Trump, meanwhile, has been greeted by adoring crowds during impromptu stops at restaurants and fast-food establishments on his recent campaign travels.
On Saturday evening, DeSantis was headlining another fundraising event in Cedar Rapids, that one to benefit the Republican Party of Iowa.
Rick Lemmon, 66, of Sioux City, said after DeSantis’ early event that he was still deciding between Trump and DeSantis, but he liked that DeSantis didn’t have as much “baggage” that could hurt him in a general election — a theme the Florida governor has tried to subtly convey, without ever directly attacking Trump.
“DeSantis doesn’t have that issue,” Lemmon said, quickly following up that he thought Trump “did a great job as president.”
In his 37-minute speech, the crowd responded enthusiastically to DeSantis' claim that he would “shut down the border immediately.” He also took credit for signing legislation to “nix the pronoun Olympics in schools.” DeSantis never uttered Trump’s name, though predictably eviscerated Biden — the same tactic being employed by most of the GOP field, and one that anti-Trump Republican strategists say is insufficient for cutting into Trump’s lead.
The would-have-been convergence in Iowa came a day after a pro-DeSantis super PAC announced the governor had secured endorsements from more than three-dozen state legislators here. Trump’s campaign on Saturday, meanwhile, announced endorsements from 150 grassroots activists in every country, after previously unveiling support from 11 state lawmakers.
In other words, the Trump-DeSantis race is very much on in Iowa, even though the Sunshine State governor hasn’t yet declared. He is expected to announce his campaign within the next few weeks.
Flipping through television channels Friday afternoon, Koch, the Dallas County GOP chair, stopped on Newsmax, drawn to a dramatic chyron while the station previewed Trump and DeSantis’ planned trips to the Hawkeye State: “Iowa Battles.” Surrogates for each of the candidates were duking it out.
“They were bickering back and forth, ‘My guy is better than your guy,’” Koch said, laughing about the segment. “It’s out of a movie. This is hysterical.”
Despite what appears to be a substantial lead for Trump in the state, there are signs that DeSantis has a shot at gaining ground in Iowa over the next eight months before the caucuses are held.
A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll in early March — the latest nonpartisan public polling available in the state — found that nearly three-quarters of Republicans said they would likely vote for Trump in a 2024 general election.
“His overall number, at 74 percent definitely or probably voting for him, is impressive — until you look at where he was before,” said J. Ann Selzer, a veteran pollster in the state who conducts the Iowa Poll.
When the poll asked the same question in June 2021, that number was at 84 percent of Iowa Republicans, including a higher proportion of voters who would “definitely” do so.
There remains a dearth of reputable, independent polling in the state, where identifying likely caucus-goers is notoriously difficult and expensive for pollsters. More recently, a survey conducted earlier this week by National Research, a past Trump pollster, found the former president 18 points ahead of DeSantis.
Reynolds, who was also at the Feenstra-DeSantis event Saturday, had not planned to attend Trump’s rally. A spokesperson for the governor said she was instead spending the afternoon with her mother ahead of Mother’s Day.
PEORIA, Ill. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday doubled down on his attacks against “woke” policies in big business, saying he will soon sign legislation to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion language “from all our public institutions.”
The 1,200 Republicans at the Peoria and Tazewell County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner at the Peoria Civic Center ate it up.
“We can never ever surrender to the woke mob,” DeSantis continued, using blustery conservative rhetoric to attack Democratic policies on public safety, border issues, trans issues and Covid pandemic rules. “We chose freedom over Fauci-ism and we are better off,” DeSantis said, prompting applause for one of dozens of such lines delivered throughout the 42-minute speech.
A large portion of his speech zeroed in on business policies: Along with attacking DEI language, he criticized the investment strategy that addresses environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), calling it an effort to “weaponize corporate power.” And he poked at Walt Disney Co., which opposed the so-called "Don’t Say Gay" law last year. “They don’t run the state of Florida. We run the state of Florida.”
DeSantis seemed to relish needling Illinois and its Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. The Florida governor jabbed Illinois for losing residents to the Sunshine State. He criticized Pritzker for allowing some members of his family to stay in their Florida home during the pandemic, and said former President Barack Obama, a former Illinois senator, was “too left” though not as left as Democrats are today.
DeSantis attacked President Joe Biden for causing “more damage in a short period of time than any president in our lifetime.”
And though he listed numerous pieces of legislation he’s signed in Florida, DeSantis didn’t mention the bill he just signed into law that would ban most abortions in the state after six weeks.
He also didn’t mention his likely run for president, though he hinted at one, saying, “I have only begun to fight.”
DeSantis’ stop in Illinois drew harsh criticism from Illinois Democrats, including Pritzker, who hours before the Florida governor’s speech issued a statement calling DeSantis “an authoritarian career politician who has no business being in public office. From passing a harsh abortion ban in the dead of night to erasing Black history from textbooks.”
And Democratic Party of Illinois chair Lisa Hernandez issued a statement saying DeSantis’ vision for the country “contradicts everything that we stand for in Illinois.”
Outside of the convention center where DeSantis spoke, a crowd of more than a hundred protesters gathered. Many were members of Peoria Proud, a group that rejects DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida. Others held signs calling out his views on abortion.
Most Republicans inside the convention center voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020’s general election, though many are open to seeing a new face at the top of the GOP ticket in 2024.
“I think people are ready for the drama to be done,” Illinois Republican state Sen. Sue Rezin told POLITICO. She was among some 30 elected officials and other Republicans at a private roundtable policy discussion with DeSantis held before Friday’s dinner. “People want leaders who can govern and who are not polarizing, and he has shown that,” Rezin said after the meeting.
Dan Brady, a Republican who served more than 20 years in the Illinois General Assembly, said voters are “eager” to hear from a candidate with “conservative values” and “good conduct and character.”
Neither of the Illinois Republicans wanted to attack Trump, and DeSantis didn't mention the former president's controversial appearance on CNN earlier in the week.
Friday's event took part in central Illinois, mostly Republican territory. It’s home to GOP Congressman Darin LaHood, who helped organize the event, though Peoria and Tazewell counties split on Trump in 2020.
LaHood drew his own applause line in introducing DeSantis, saying, “We need a winner.”
Peoria County voted for President Joe Biden 51.9 percent to Trump’s 45.6 percent. Tazewell County, meanwhile, voted for Trump 61.6 percent, compared to 35.9 percent for Biden.
DeSantis, who’s already made stops in the early primary states of Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina, isn’t likely looking at Illinois to get him over the delegate hump, presuming he jumps into the presidential race. The Land of Lincoln’s 2024 primary election is in late March, weeks after the early states.
But Illinois has Republican donors, which DeSantis is hoping to gather up along with those delegates.
Friday’s crowd for DeSantis’ speech was so large that organizers had to expand the room at the Civic Center.
Event organizers made note that last year’s headliner was former Vice President Mike Pence, and he “only” drew about 700 people to the annual dinner. Pence, like DeSantis, is expected to announce a run for president.
DeSantis is scheduled to be in Sioux City, Iowa, on Saturday for a Republican picnic.
A group led by Josh Harris that includes Magic Johnson has agreed to buy the NFL's Washington Commanders from longtime owner Dan Snyder and his family.
The sides announced the deal in a joint statement Friday, roughly a month after they reached an agreement in principle on the sale for a record $6.05 billion.
The deal is the highest price paid for a North American professional sports franchise, surpassing the $4.55 billion Walmart heir Robert Walton paid for the Denver Broncos last year. It is still pending approval of three-quarters of owners and other customary closing conditions.
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement for the sale of the Commanders franchise with Josh Harris, an area native, and his impressive group of partners,” Snyder and wife Tanya said in the statement. “We look forward to the prompt completion of this transaction and to rooting for Josh and the team in the coming years.”
Snyder has owned the team since 1999, when he bought his favorite boyhood team for $750 million, and despite mounting criticism repeatedly said he’d never sell. That changed after multiple investigations by the league and Congress into Washington’s workplace misconduct and potential improprieties. The congressional investigation found Snyder played a role in a toxic culture.
Harris’ group includes Washington-area billionaire Mitchell Rales, the basketball Hall of Famer Johnson and David Blitzer, among others. Harris and Blitzer have owned the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers since 2011 and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils since 2013.
“I could not be more excited to be a partner in the proposed new ownership group for the Washington Commanders,” Johnson tweeted. “Josh Harris has assembled an amazing group who share a commitment to not only doing great things on the field but to making a real impact in the (Washington-area) community. I’m so excited to get to work on executing our vision for the Commanders and our loyal fanbase.”
Harris grew up in the Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland. He said he got to experience the excitement of the team winning three Super Bowls and establishing a long-term culture of success.
“We look forward to the formal approval of our ownership by the NFL in the months ahead and to having the honor to serve as responsible and accountable stewards of the Commanders franchise moving forward,” Harris said. “We look forward to running a world-class organization and making significant investments on and off the field to achieve excellence and have a lasting and positive impact on the community.”
NEWBURGH, N.Y. — Three miles from the nearest supermarket on an isolated street near Stewart Airport in Newburgh, several male asylum-seekers sat out in the sun mingling with news reporters from all over the world.
The calm scene Friday was periodically interrupted by drivers honking and yelling out expletives to anyone who will listen. Others from the community stopped to drop off donations. Like the country, the Hudson Valley community is divided on New York City’s decision to send three buses of male asylum-seekers to the area this week.
The Crossroads Hotel in the Town of Newburgh may be physically hidden from the nearby main road, but it’s now at the forefront of the country’s contentious debate surrounding what to do with the thousands of migrants crossing the southern border every day.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has made it clear his administration is struggling to provide housing, food and other services for the more than 65,000 asylum-seekers that entered the city this past year. And with a federal border policy expired, it is not prepared to deal with the thousands more that are expected to come.
But his move to alleviate the strain on the city has angered Republican leaders in the Hudson Valley, creating a new political divide in a battleground region of the state and nation.
Rockland and Orange county executives have taken legal action to bar hotels from accepting asylum-seekers. The Town of Orangetown in Rockland has been successful thus far through retraining orders that the city is appealing. But Newburgh has not taken legal action, and the group of men were welcomed by local Democratic leaders and community organizations.
Orange County Legislator Kevindaryán Luján (D-Newburgh) said he and the county’s Democratic caucus have spoken out against the actions of Orange and Rockland county executives and plan to look into the legality of the counties' executive orders put in place to try to stop the migrants from relocating.
“It is disheartening to see some county executives politicizing this issue and treating these individuals like political pawns instead of human beings,” he said in an interview with POLITICO. “These asylum-seekers knew nothing of the political circus that surrounded their arrival, and I am glad we were able to receive them in a welcoming manner instead of retraumatizing them as could have been the case with the county executive's approach.”
And while they don’t speak the language, the migrants inside the hotel were aware of the debates surrounding their arrival.
Felipe Cortez, 38, of Ecuador, said he understands that the locals fear having people they don’t know in their town, but said they are not looking to take anything from anyone — they are just looking for work.
“We have to be calm because people have ideas of who we are, but they don’t know us. Simply if they got to know us and see what each person is made of, they will change the mentality that they have,” Cortez said in Spanish.
“I understand that they are upset, and think we are invading them. This is a normal thing, I think.”
Cortez left his wife and three daughters, and his siblings at home to pave the way for a better life for them in the U.S. He said he arrived in New York with the help of a refugee center in Texas. They provided him with a ticket for a flight. When he arrived in New York, he connected with another refugee center that told him about the program to move to the Hudson Valley.
When asked if he thought the mayor sent the men for political reasons, he said they were sent because they believe they can contribute to the manpower in the area. Many of them are laborers — some in construction, welders or operators of heavy machinery.
“We are looking to work, and I think they were focused on that, and that is why they sent us here to this place, so that we can contribute here, because there are many of us,” he said.
He said he was promised resources and a place to stay while they wait for permission to work. He volunteered to come, and so did all the people he traveled with, he said.
Inside the hotel, many say there is medical treatment, food and money. They also have a shuttle that brings them to the City of Newburgh and the surrounding area several times a day. The city of Newburgh is considered a sanctuary city that is welcoming to migrants, but the Town of Newburgh where the hotel is located does not have that status.
Adams has indicated the city would pay their way for four months.
On the front lawn of the hotel Friday morning, a 70-year-old woman driving a black Nissan hastily pulled her car into the parking lot and approached an asylum-seeker and a community advocate sitting out in the sun.
At first, the woman angrily denounced the spectacle caused by the arrival of what she called “illegal immigrants” to her town. The local grandmother had a long debate with Ignacio Acevedo, a Mexican immigrant who, years ago, entered the country the same way the man sitting next to him did. He now is working for the New York Civil Liberties Union as a Hudson Valley organizer assisting new migrants in the region.
The woman's viewpoint was similar to that of Republican leaders in the region.
“I’m just an old senior citizen who’s lived long enough to see that this is not fair, to them, to the country. The politicians need to step up, on both sides. It’s not the Democrats or the Republicans; both sides are guilty,” she said to Acevedo, but refused to provide her name.
Acevedo said he would like to remind the community that the migrants here are simply looking for a better life for their families and themselves. He said he’s felt the racism outside the hotel from people passing by assuming that he is a migrant himself.
“Everybody deserves a chance, everybody deserves safety, everybody deserves to feel welcome,” he said in an interview.
Genesis Ramos, an Orange County legislator (D-Newburgh) said she’s been appalled by the rhetoric county executives have been using surrounding the relocation of asylum seekers. Ramos had the chance to go inside and welcome the men personally.
“I completely denounce their xenophobic, racist and dehumanizing rhetoric,” Ramos said in an interview. “These individuals, their housing, their case management, their food, it’s all being funded by New York City. It’s not being funded by taxpayers."
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said earlier this week that he simply wants answers and coordination with the city and state about who is coming to the county and when.
"The federal government and the city got to figure this crap out because who are these people?" he said. "Are they going to get citizenship? Can I get them jobs if they are coming up here? Are they going to be sitting in hotels?"
The city can legally move migrants to hotels if it pays for them, said Steve Acquario, executive director of the state Association of Counties.
“There are jurisdictional issues here between the mayor and the governor,” he said. “He has the law on his side to move individuals around the state, as long as he's paying for it.”
Still, Orange and Rockland counties are both fighting the city in court over the moves, and GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro said what the city is doing is illegal.
Molinaro, the former Dutchess County executive, said he is working with area Reps. Mike Lawler, a Republican, and Pat Ryan, a Democrat, to try to get FEMA support to help with the migrant crisis. On Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul again asked the federal government for more assistance.
“The crisis is here, and it needs to be confronted with a coordinated and compassionate approach by the federal and state government,” he said in a call with reporters. “There is a solution to this, and it doesn't need to be partisan.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to unveil the endorsements of more than three-dozen Iowa state legislators ahead of his trip to the state on Saturday — giving him a boost in a state that traditionally hosts the Republican Party’s first presidential nominating contest.
DeSantis has spent the last few weeks reaching out to Iowa Republicans, according to a person familiar with the calls. The governor did not explicitly ask for their support during those conversations, which were instead focused on legislative matters taking place in Florida and Iowa.
The endorsements, however, provide a political jolt for DeSantis as he readies for a likely presidential bid. The total haul represents more than one-third of the Iowa Republican legislative caucus, and far outpaces the amount of support received by any of the Republican candidates who ran in the 2016 GOP primary. The most received that year was by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who had the backing of a dozen Iowa state lawmakers, according to tracking figures compiled at the time.
The roster of those supporting DeSantis includes more than a half-dozen party leaders — State Senate President Amy Sinclair, Senate Majority Whip Waylon Brown, Assistant House Majority Leader Brent Siegrist, House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, House Speaker Pro Tempore John Wills, House Majority Whip Henry Stone and Assistant Majority Leader Jon Dunwell. (The Sinclair and Windschitl endorsements were first reported by the Des Moines Register.)
The endorsements are set to be rolled out on Friday by Never Back Down, a super PAC that has been set up to support a prospective DeSantis presidential candidacy. Endorsements are heavily sought after in Iowa, where the strength of a candidate’s organization can play a major role in their success in the state’s caucus.
DeSantis is set to make his second trip to Iowa on Saturday, where he will appear at a picnic hosted in Sioux Center by Iowa GOP Rep. Randy Feenstra, who has yet to endorse in the primary. Former President Trump will separately be hosting a Saturday rally about 245 miles south, in Des Moines. Ahead of his visit, the Trump campaign is expected to announce the backing of nearly 150 county leaders and grassroots activists, according to a person familiar with the plans. The former president has previously rolled out endorsements from 11 Iowa state legislators.
DeSantis has yet to formally launch his campaign, though top Republicans expect that a formal announcement is on the horizon.
The full list of DeSantis backers in Iowa also includes: State Sens. Scott Webster, Jesse Green, Adrian Dickey, Mark Costello, Ken Rozenboom, Dennis Guth, Dan Zumbach, Tom Shipley, David Rowley, Mike Klimesh, and state Reps. Dave Deyoe, Dean Fisher, Brian Best, Steven Holt, Tom Moore, Norlin Mommsen, Skyler Wheeler, Ann Meyer, David Sieck, Phil Thompson, Carter Nordman, Bob Henderson, Ken Carlson, Devon Wood, Bill Gustoff, Dan Gehlbach, Tom Determann, Mike Vondran, Taylor Collins, and Hans Wilz.
An unaccompanied migrant child died while in U.S. government care this week and a medical examiner investigation is underway, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement released on Friday.
"The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is deeply saddened by this tragic loss and our heart goes out to the family, with whom we are in touch," HHS said in the statement.
According to a tweet from Honduran foreign relations minister Enrique Reina, the teenager was identified as Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza. Reina said the teenager was detained at a facility in Safety Harbor, Florida.
The HHS was responsible for the facility where the teenager was held.
In a press conference on Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the news was “deeply saddening to hear” and that the administration was aware of the tragic death of the minor.
