Trump warns of 'bad things' if Republicans lose midterms

"I'm here because I love Iowa, but I'm here because we're starting the campaign to win the midterms. Got to win the midterms," second-term president Trump said in his speech.

"If we lose the midterms, you'll lose so many of the things that we're talking about, so many of the assets that we're talking about, so many of the tax cuts that we're talking about -- and it would lead to very bad things."

But Trump's economy-focused speech was largely overshadowed by events in the neighboring state of Minnesota, where two people have died this month in a deadly immigration crackdown.

Trump told Fox News earlier he would "de-escalate a little bit" after federal agents shot 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the weekend, but he largely avoided talking about it in his speech.

The White House says Trump will be making weekly trips across the country ahead of the midterms, in which voters have historically punished US presidents.

Trump's team has increasingly focused on the economy after polls showed mounting voter anger over the issue of affordability one year since the billionaire's return to power.

In his Iowa speech, the 79-year-old president repeated his claims about a "Golden Age" in the United States and insisted prices were falling for most goods.

But he admitted that it may be hard to convince voters in November's midterms, saying that in past elections "if something happens, the screw turns with the voters" no matter how good the president.

- 'Sickos' -

Trump has raged at what he calls unfair opinion polls, but numerous surveys have showed him with low approval ratings. A New York Times/Siena poll last week put the figure at 40 percent.

With supporters cheering him along in Iowa, Trump, however, returned to a familiar theme of talking about running for a constitutionally barred third term as president. 

"Should we do it a fourth time?" he said, referring to his false claim to have won the 2020 election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, along with winning in 2016 and 2024.

Protesters disrupted Trump's speech on at least two occasions, with the Republican dismissing them as "sickos" and "paid insurrectionists."

Trump, who was accompanied by US Treasury chief Scott Bessent, earlier visited a local diner and talked to patrons.

Also accompanying Trump to Iowa was deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration policy, who described Pretti without evidence as a "would-be assassin." 

The political row over immigration sees Trump in an unusually tight spot of one of his core campaign issues.

While polls show most voters approve of his policy of mass deportations, many recent surveys show they are uncomfortable with the harsh tactics of Trump's immigration agents.

During his Iowa speech Trump veered off as he often does into talking about immigration, including renewed attacks on Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who is the first Somali-American elected to Congress.

Meanwhile Trump faced a fresh blow on the economy too Tuesday as data showed US consumer confidence plunged in January to its lowest level since 2014.

dk/md