President Trump, staring down a rough midterm season for Republicans, unveiled plans for an Iowa steel mill project on Monday that he said would plug billions into the economy and create construction jobs in a state hit hard by his policies.
Voters in Midwestern states were crucial to delivering a second election win to Mr. Trump, but now, those voters are among the hardest hit by tariff-driven manufacturing costs and a rise in fuel prices driven by the war in Iran. When a reporter in the Oval Office asked him on Monday why several Republican candidates in Iowa were working so hard to protect their seats, Mr. Trump seemed mystified.
“I don’t know,” said Mr. Trump, who is traveling to several states this week ahead of the midterm elections. “I love Iowa. I’ve always been very strong with Iowa.”
The project in Iowa is one of several job-creation announcements Mr. Trump is expected to make as he traverses the country. He will travel to several reliably conservative states this week, including Oklahoma and Alabama. He is also scheduled to visit Ohio this weekend in support of Senator Jon Husted, an embattled incumbent facing several challenges, including a lack of name recognition among some of the state’s most devoted conservatives.
Mr. Trump said on Monday that he would also visit Iowa, where he hopes the planned steel mill will boost prospects for Republicans in tight races — and perhaps his own fortunes as a kingmaker who has asked supporters to pretend he is on the ballot in November. Americans have signaled that they are doing just that, but in a way that could backfire on him. The war in Iran and the cost of living have both eroded his support.
So Mr. Trump has leaned into the promise of the mill, which is part of an $18 billion investment from Mesabi Metallics. Supporters of the project say it will be one of the largest steel mills in the world when it is completed.
In the Oval Office on Monday, Mr. Trump, several cabinet members and Iowa Republicans said the project would remind voters that Mr. Trump’s policies have created jobs. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who is facing a tough re-election race and who last week voted to curb Mr. Trump’s war powers, appeared to be behind Mr. Trump, telling reporters that the steel mill could create some 6,000 construction jobs and 1,750 permanent jobs, with salaries that could exceed $100,000 a year.
“We’re going to mine it in America. We’re going to mill it in America, and we’re going to make it in America,” Ms. Miller-Meeks said.
Mesabi Metallic is owned by Essar Group, a Mumbai-based conglomerate controlled by one of India’s wealthiest families. The Iowa mill project follows another initiative led by Mesabi: a $2.5 billion iron-ore mine and pellet plant in Nashwauk, Minn.
That project, described as the first new operation of its kind in the state in about 50 years, has been supported by EXIM Bank, a U.S. federal import-export bank that announced it would extend loans to the company worth up to $10 billion. Some analysts consider the EXIM loan to be risky, because Mesabi has faced financial problems and significant delays over the years.
Alec Varsamis, a spokesman for EXIM, said that Mesabi had so far been granted a $770 million loan for the iron-ore mine in Minnesota.
“We are operating at no cost to the taxpayer, and we are on track to repay our congressional appropriations to the U.S. Treasury,” Mr. Varsamis said.
In the Oval Office on Monday, Mr. Trump said that the project would go forward even if control of Congress changed hands, or if a “less friendly” president took over. Rewant Ruia, chairman of Mesabi’s executive board, and Ravi Ruia, co-founder and vice-chairman of the Essar Group, were also in the Oval Office for the announcement.
The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2016, and has been entangled in a lawsuit with Cleveland Cliffs, another steel manufacturer.
Mesabi executives have leaned on a Trump-world insider as the company has sought to expand its footprint in the United States. The company hired Jason Miller, a longtime Trump adviser, as its lobbyist, paying him at least $240,000 through his company SHW Partners, according to lobbying disclosure records. The government of India also hired Mr. Miller’s company, paying $150,000 per month for “strategic counsel, tactical planning and government relations assistance on policy matters before the U.S. government,” according to federal filings under the Foreign Agent Registration Act.
On Monday, Mr. Miller said in a text message that he had stopped his work as a lobbyist for Mesabi and deregistered at the end of July. He has since joined the administration as an unpaid special government employee. He was not present in the Oval Office.
Rewant Ruia, chairman of Mesabi Metallics, spoke in the Oval Office on Monday, and said the new steel plant in Iowa “will use the latest technology and will compete head-to-head with any steel plant in the world on size, quality and on cost.”
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that tracked Mr. Miller’s lobbying on behalf of Mesabi and the Indian government, said that the extension of potentially billions in taxpayer-backed loans from EXIM Bank deserved more scrutiny because of Mr. Miller’s role.
“In any other administration, this would be treated as a monumental scandal,” Mr. Weissman said. “But in this one, it’s just another day.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa, a Republican who attended the Oval Office event, said in a statement that the deal would be transformative for her state.
“Our commitment in Iowa to fiscal responsibility, tax competitiveness, and long-term economic stability has created one of the nation’s strongest environments for business investment,” she said. “Now, this opportunity will fundamentally change the economic trajectory of our state and the entire region for decades to come.”
The steel mill project is part of a broader election-season attempt by Mr. Trump to push back against widespread voter frustration with his policies, including tariffs that have been punishing for American manufacturers, particularly in the Midwest.
Mr. Trump and his advisers believe that any polling predicting a blowout for Democrats is overrated, and to some degree, they have history on their side. On Monday, Mr. Trump again called recent polling “fake,” and complained that the news media had not appropriately trumpeted employment numbers, 401(k) account gains and a host of other accomplishments.
“Nobody talks about all of the incredible things,” Mr. Trump said.
But this is not 2016, or 2024. In 2026, Americans are deeply unhappy with the cost of living and frustrated with the war in Iran, which has driven up prices further. In response, Mr. Trump has taken to calling the concept of affordability a Democratic hoax, while promising that prices will come down as soon as the war ends.
“We’re going to win that war very soon. That’ll be over, and the gasses, gas prices, will come tumbling down,” Mr. Trump said, forecasting the future. “So nobody else could have done that. Nobody else.”
Mr. Trump’s self-congratulatory messaging on the war has done little to help G.O.P. candidates in tough races across the country. In the past week, Republicans running for Senate seats in Iowa and Michigan have called on Mr. Trump to end the conflict. A slate of other candidates, including two running for governor in Wisconsin and Michigan, and Mr. Husted in Ohio, also have said that the war needs to end, and soon.
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