Trump to Flood Iowa with Big-Name Supporters Ahead of Caucuses

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s campaign plans to flood Iowa with Cabinet secretaries, lawmakers and senior White House officials for the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses next week, in a show of strength designed to kick off his re-election bid.

The president has no serious challenge in the Iowa Republican contest, with one-term Illinois congressman Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld the only other Republicans seeking the party’s nomination. Still, his campaign has sought to capitalize on the attention being paid to the Democratic nominating contest, and the president himself will travel to Des Moines on Thursday for a political rally.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are among those expected to appear on the president’s behalf, rallying support from Republican caucus-goers. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie are also among the dozens of surrogates expected to attend.

“Our Caucus Day operation is just a preview of what is to come,” Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “We are putting the Democrats on notice -- good luck trying to keep up with this formidable re-election machine.”

Other surrogates expected to appear in Iowa include My Pillow Inc. chief executive Mike Lindell and Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who was disappointed to have been left off Trump’s impeachment defense team.

(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

This post is part of Campaign Update, our live coverage from the 2020 campaign trail.

To contact the author of this story: Justin Sink in Washington at jsink1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Magan Sherzai

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