Editorial: Promises

Donald Trump promised to deport more than 10 million undocumented immigrants. He also promised to impose tariffs on China, which will reciprocate with tariffs on Iowa ag products. Despite that, 66% of the Buena Vista County vote went Trump’s way on Tuesday. The former president won Iowa by 14 points after the nation’s leading pollster reported the race a dead heat just last weekend.

The folks who voted for Trump understand that each of these policies, central to his campaign, has huge implications for Storm Lake. Most people do remember the Trump trade war with China. He bailed out farmers with “Trump bump” checks, and they assume he will bail them out again.

Trump promises that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., will be put in charge of food, agriculture and science. Kennedy wants to eliminate soy oil from the diet. He promises radical changes to the ag production system, and it is all well-known. He does not like vaccines when we are in the midst of an avian flu epidemic that is morphing into swine, cattle and humans.

People who employ undocumented immigrants in dairies understand that Trump would deport their experienced employees. He promised. They believe he was lying, that he won’t really do it or he will be stopped by a Republican Senate.

Trump always campaigned against renewable energy. He tried to grant waivers for gasoline refiners so they could avoid using ethanol. Supporters in the Fourth Congressional District understand that, and remember it acutely. He promised the oil companies that he would do their bidding if they gave him money.

We must assume that he will keep those promises as he says.

Iowa voters also fully appreciate that Trump is responsible for the assemblage of a US Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade. Abortion in Iowa became illegal after six weeks of pregnancy in July. The Iowa Poll last Saturday asserted a large shift among independent women that failed to materialize at the polls on Tuesday.

Nothing in the election results indicates that abortion was a major factor. Republicans gained ground in the legislature after imposing a conservative agenda on Iowa the past eight years. It is hard to see how Democrats emerge for 2026 with a governor’s race center stage. This week’s results were a resounding endorsement of the GOP.

Trump’s argument was that America is a shambles, its economy a wreck, with immigrants invading and poisoning the national blood. He claimed that Kamala Harris was a warmonger (and that Liz Cheney is a chicken-hawk). She was hand-chosen and not popularly nominated. The Biden Administration was a disaster. We heard it loud and clear in Storm Lake. Voters agreed, overwhelmingly here.

Many of our neighbors think that Storm Lake will be better off if we deport every undocumented immigrant. Trump has said he also will deport people on Temporary Protected Status, such as Haitians. If the plans are executed, Storm Lake’s population will fall by a third or more. It will cause major disruptions to food processing.

Many of us also think that we should take the pain of tariffs to confront and contain China. We also depend on China for vital natural resources like aluminum. Iowa voters must believe that a trade war is worth the cost, and that Trump is the far better person to wage it than Harris. People feel threatened.

Trump has promised he will not mess with Social Security. Others around him are not so sure. Iowans must be betting that the most popular government program will survive.

They remember Tump’s first term. We survived despite tariffs and threats to immigrants. Congress was able to hold him in check. Iowa voters don’t believe he can make good on all his promises, or they believe that we would all be better off without undocumented immigrants in Storm Lake and a trade war designed to bring China to heel. It is hard to understand, but the vote results are not. Voters are angry at a system that Trump promises to blow up. Except he never blew anything up or drained the swamp. He did start a trade war. He did pack the Supreme Court. He would like to pen up Mexicans. He did it before and can do it again. He certainly has the mandate.