He promised a quick end to the war in Iran. He held up photographs of various Washington improvement projects, including the “reflecting pond.” He complimented the physiques of male athletes. He listened as people praised him.
At an event held at a rural farm in Wisconsin on Friday, President Trump treated his supporters to a rhetorical lineup very similar to most of his recent Oval Office appearances, and reminded them that he could be doing something else.
“I don’t need this, I got elected, what the hell do I have to be here for?” Mr. Trump said to a crowd of people who had braved a rainy day to hear him speak. “I’m doing this because I like the farmer,” he said, adding: “I could be home right now in the beautiful White House, enjoying watching somebody else on television talking.”
As the midterm elections approach in the state’s highly competitive Third Congressional District, the president needs to make sure those farmers like him back. Since Mr. Trump returned to office, his tariff policies and the rising fuel prices caused by the war have stung that very constituency.
So Mr. Trump traveled to western Wisconsin, which is home to large beef, dairy and crop farms, to shore up support for Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Republican loyalist running for re-election in a purple district he narrowly won in 2024.
“He’s in a little bit of a community that tends to be, slightly a little bit more than we want it, left,” Mr. Trump said. In a sign of how tight the race is, several Trump administration officials have traveled to the district recently. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this week attended an event down the road with Mr. Van Orden.
Diverting at points on Friday from his usual red-meat fare — including with a long segment featuring visual aides about the changes he is making to fountains and monuments in Washington — Mr. Trump touched on policies meant to help farmers. He talked about legislation that reduced estate taxes for farms, celebrated the passage of a law that allows whole milk back into schools, and discussed removing diesel fuel sensor requirements from equipment.
“I terminated the ridiculous so-called diesel exhaust fluid requirement — does that mean anything?” Mr. Trump said, before turning to face Joe Thomas, a former professional football player whose size and appearance he repeatedly praised. “I want to keep him happy just in case he gets violent,” the president said.
At another point, he accepted a gold medal from Jordan Stolz, an Olympian speedskater who was seated near him onstage. “His leg is like a rock,” Mr. Trump said.
As he has done in other settings, Mr. Trump assured the crowd that the war in Iran would soon be over, and promised that gas prices would come down. “One way or the other it’s finished,” he said, telling the farmers that they soon would be “very happy” with the results.
As he was leaving the event, Chuck Schlichting, a 60-year-old emergency room nurse, said that he supported a lot of what Mr. Trump was doing, aside from what he said was the “theatrics and the drama” associated with the president’s leadership.
Mr. Schlichting, a three-time Trump voter, said he was satisfied with the president’s explanation of why he led the country to war, then added, “I don’t know how much of it is true.”
In nearby Eau Claire, Rebecca Cooke, who challenged Mr. Van Orden for his seat in 2024 and lost by less than 3 percent, was serving fries and glasses of wine to diners at The Good Wives, a restaurant where she has worked since 2022.
Ms. Cooke, 38, said that she was running to unseat Mr. Van Orden again because she felt rural Americans had been betrayed by Republicans in Washington. She said that Republicans had endangered access to health care, driven up prices for farmers, and slashed important social safety net programs.
“I feel like people here that voted for him feel betrayed,” Ms. Cooke, who grew up on a dairy farm, said of Mr. Trump. “And the same with Derrick Van Orden, who has voted in lock step with the White House.”
She added: “People here take you by your word. When Trump gave his word and went back on it, that’s betrayal.”
Mr. Trump has loyal voters in the area who say they are intent on taking his advice to wait for better days.
Randy Craker, a 66-year-old city employee who lives in Eau Claire, said that he and his family have had to adjust to rising costs associated with the war. On Friday, gas was around $4.09 a gallon. Mr. Craker, a three-time Trump voter, said that he still believed in the president’s “patriotic” vision for the country, and that he hoped the short-term disruptions would be worth it.
“Can you imagine what a complicated job it is to run this country?” he said. “I’m just saying that Trump has got a big job, and we pray for his success.”
His feelings were more conflicted about Mr. Van Orden. He said he felt that the congressman had “gone back on some of the promises” he had made to voters, and had not held town halls with the voters who had elected him.
Katie Rogers is a White House correspondent for The Times, reporting on President Trump.
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