In Iowa, Trump Says Biden ‘Betrayed Israel’

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Waterloo, Iowa, on Oct. 7, 2023. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images

During consecutive speeches in two Iowa cities, former President Donald J. Trump linked President Joe Biden’s foreign policy to Hamas’s terrorist attack on the country.

“Joe Biden betrayed Israel,” President Trump said to a large crowd in Cedar Rapids.

President Trump repeatedly cited the current president’s release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets as part of a prisoner swap with Tehran’s Islamist state. Iran is a critical international sponsor of Hamas, which the United States has designated as a terrorist organization.

“I predicted war in Israel immediately after it was announced that Joe Biden gave the $6 billion to Iran,” the former president said, saying that the United States and Israel “need a very strong partnership.”

During an earlier speech at the National Cattle Congress in Waterloo, about 57 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids, President Trump said he “would not be at all surprised” if some of that $6 billion helped fund Hamas’s assault on Israel.

In a statement released Oct. 7, President Biden said that “the United States unequivocally condemns this appalling assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists from Gaza.”

“I can’t comment on 2024 because of the Hatch Act. But I can clarify the facts: Not a single cent from these funds has been spent, and when it is spent, it can only be spent on things like food and medicine for the Iranian people,” Adrienne Watson, the White House National Security Council spokeswoman, wrote on X.

“These funds have absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks today and this is not the time to spread disinformation,” Ms. Watson added in a follow-up post.

In Cedar Rapids, where he spoke at the DoubleTree by Hilton’s convention center, President Trump took aim at President Biden’s comments on the Hamas attack. He launched into an impression of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill before opining that President Biden “was not Winston Churchill.”

President Trump described the attack as an “act of savagery” in both his Oct. 7 speeches.

Iowa Humming Ahead of GOP Caucus

President Trump is one of multiple GOP candidates swinging through the Hawkeye State in recent days. Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Republican caucus is scheduled for Jan. 15.

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy held an outdoor barbeque, “Vektoberfest,” in Des Moines on Oct. 5.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has visited Iowa in recent days too. His fellow South Carolinian, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, will hold several town halls in the state on Oct. 8 and 9.

President Trump’s chief rival for the Republican nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is also traveling through Iowa in conjunction with the SuperPAC Never Back Down. He held three county-level “meet and greet” events on Oct. 7, the same day the last Republican commander-in-chief spoke in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo.

A campaign press release indicated that he is trying to visit all 99 of Iowa’s counties, a feat by presidential candidates known as the “full Grassley,” named after Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

‘Right to Defend’

Like President Trump and other 2024 hopefuls, Mr. DeSantis too responded to the rapidly unfolding conflict.

“Israel not only has the right to defend itself against these attacks, it has a duty to respond with overwhelming force,” he wrote on X.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at his campaign event in Clive, Iowa, on May 30, 2023. Andrew Caballero-reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

“I’m horrified by Iranian-backed Hamas’ unprecedented attack against Israel,” Mr. Scott wrote on X.

“I am appalled by the barbaric and medieval Hamas attacks,” Mr. Ramaswamy wrote on X.

Israel has historically been a top priority for many major Republican donors, including the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam.

In addition, and as President Trump has repeatedly pointed out, the dispensationalist Christian voters that make up much of the GOP base strongly support Israel.

“There’s been no better president for Israel than me. And nobody loves Israel more than the evangelical Christians, I will tell you that,” President Trump said in Cedar Rapids to cheers and applause.

Ethanol, Abortion, and Hispanic Voters

President Trump renewed many of the criticisms he has previously leveled at Gov. DeSantis when campaigning in Iowa, including during a July speech in Council Bluffs.

During his stint in Congress, then-Rep. DeSantis cosponsored a bill in 2017 that would have eliminated the renewable fuel standard. That would have spelled trouble for ethanol, the destination for much of Iowa’s corn.

The Sunshine State’s executive wrote an op-ed for the Des Moines Register last month in which he voiced support for year-round 15 percent ethanol blending in gasoline, in line with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ vision.

“He was against ethanol, totally against. Now all of a sudden, he came out for it the other day,” President Trump said in Waterloo.

President Trump also spoke about abortion. He has previously chalked up the GOP’s lackluster midterm performance to that issue being “poorly handled” by some in the party.

He again sought to position himself as closer to the center of the American electorate, without compromising on an issue near and dear to many of the most active and dedicated Republican voters.

2024 Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a "Commit To Caucus" rally at the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Maquoketa, Iowa on Sept. 20, 2023. Scott Olson/Getty Images

“I happen to be like Ronald Reagan. The exceptions–rape, incest, life of the mother–the exceptions, three exceptions. I happen to be there … You have to follow your heart, but very hard to win elections without them, to be honest,” he said in Waterloo, referring to the exceptions.

At a more optimistic moment, President Trump predicted that he would build on his past performances with black and Latino voters.

“Hispanic Americans—we are going to probably win Hispanic Americans. By the way, if that happens, this election is over,” he said, his words almost drowned out by applause.