Citing Tornado Watch, Trump Cancels Iowa Rally, Touts 150 Endorsements and Poll Lead Over DeSantis

A sign that says former President Donald Trump's campaign event has been postponed due to severe weather, at Lauridsen Amphitheater at Water Works Park in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 13, 2023. Rachel Mummey/AFP via Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump announced that a tornado watch forced the cancellation of his Iowa rally at an outdoor venue on Saturday, May 13.

Just before 1 p.m. Central Daylight Time, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for many Iowa counties including Polk County, where Trump’s rally was to be held at the Laurisden Amphitheater in Des Moines.

The tornado watch was to remain in effect until 7 p.m., the same time Trump was scheduled to speak; other Republicans had been expected to make remarks beginning at 4 p.m.

As he announced the cancellation in a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Stay tuned, we will reschedule soon. Be safe out there!” The Des Moines event would have been Trump’s second campaign stop in the state this year; he appeared in Davenport, Iowa, on March 13.

Despite the Des Moines event being canceled, Trump touted his successes in Iowa. His campaign announced that he had gathered endorsements from more than 150 elected officials and grassroots leaders in all 99 Iowa counties.

That support signals “his commanding position in the Hawkeye State,” his campaign said.

“We are proud to receive the support of Iowa’s most conservative and committed Republicans,” Trump State Director Marshall Moreau stated in a news release. “These grassroots leaders have long fought for the America First Movement and are just the beginning of an army that President Trump is building to win the First-in-the-Nation Republican caucuses.”

Despite his recent legal woes, Trump remains the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump’s nearest potential rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, trails him by 34 points in a recent McLaughlin & Associates poll of likely Iowan Republican caucus voters, his campaign said.

Trump leads DeSantis by a similar margin in the RealClear Politics average.

Meanwhile, still-undeclared DeSantis was also visiting Iowa on Saturday. Earlier in the day, DeSantis spoke at a picnic in Sioux Center, the northwest corner of the state.  In the evening, he was scheduled to speak at a $100-a-plate Republican Party fundraiser in the eastern section of the state in Grand Rapids.

The events capped an eventful week for Trump.

On Tuesday, a federal jury in New York found that Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s, and defamed her in his denial of the incident; he appealed that verdict on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Trump participated in a CNN-hosted event for the first time since 2016. He and moderator Kaitlan Collins had often-contentious exchanges at the town hall-style forum in New Hampshire. The heavily Republican crowd often applauded and cheered for Trump. But Democrats and some Republicans later criticized the former president for his verbal sparring with Collins.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this story.