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FACT SHEET: Trump Plans Iowa Rally While Ignoring Skyrocketing Costs Amid Affordability Crisis

By January 26, 2026No Comments

As Donald Trump prepares to speak on affordability and the cost of living in Iowa on Tuesday, costs are skyrocketing for Iowans as a result of his administration’s failed policies. From families to farmers to small business owners, Iowans are hurting from Trump’s anemic economy. Less than a third of Americans say they are better off than a year ago. Trump’s approval rating in Iowa, a state he won by a double-digit margin in 2024, is deep in the red at around negative nine percentage points. 

 

The Hawkeye State Affordability Crisis

 

  • COST-OF-LIVING IS IOWANS’ TOP CONCERN: Iowa residents are facing high prices due to Trump’s economic policies. A recent poll found that Iowans are most concerned about stopping inflation and rising living costs. Nearly half now believe they will have a lower standard of living in the future. Iowa ranks 48th in the nation for personal income growth, is considered in or at high risk of recession, and was recently rated the worst state economy in the country. 
  • IOWA HEALTH CARE COSTS ARE UP THANKS TO TRUMP & REPUBLICANS: The Trump-GOP Big, Ugly Bill cut over $1 trillion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Up to 115,000 Iowans stand to lose their health care because of Trump and Republicans’ deep health care cuts. Nearly two-thirds of Iowans (61 percent) say their health care costs have increased, 84 percent of Iowans oppose new fees for visits to doctor’s offices and clinics stemming from hospital mergers, and 86 percent of Iowans who buy insurance through the ACA say they would delay or skip care if Republicans ripped away tax credits.
    • Iowa hospitals are estimated to lose $290 million a year due to Medicaid cuts alone. State leaders already requested $1 billion from the federal government to shore up rural health care in anticipation of slashed budgets and was awarded just 20 percent of the requested funding.
    • The Trump-GOP plan to rip away ACA tax credits will hit Iowa farmers and small businesses especially hard. More than a quarter of America’s agricultural workforce purchases health insurance through the ACA, and over 30,000 small business owners in the state rely on the ACA for coverage – more than 1 in 5 ACA enrollees in Iowa. 87 percent of small business owners reportedly wanted Congress to permanently extend ACA tax credits.
  • IOWA ENERGY COSTS SKYROCKETING: Since Trump took office in January, household electric bills are up 13 percent nationwide. In Iowa, utilities and fuel costs have increased three times faster than regional inflation. Climate Power estimates that electricity bills in Iowa are rising by around $55 annually. Iowans’ winter heating bills are spiking this season, costing 20 percent more than last year.

  • IOWA SMALL BUSINESSES ARE SUFFERING: Trump’s tariffs are disproportionately hurting small businesses in Iowa, which is home to over 280,000 small businesses. Iowa’s business outlook fell dramatically in 2025, dropping 14 spots. 80 percent of Iowa businesses surveyed last year expressed concerns about Trump’s tariffs. Even as Iowa business leaders opposed Trump’s tariffs, all four Iowa Republicans in the House voted to cede congressional power over tariffs to Trump.
    • TRUMP’S TARIFFS RAISE IOWA FARMING COSTS: Iowa’s economy is highly dependent on farming and agricultural exports, which account for tens of billions of dollars in revenue. Iowa farmers have been hard hit by Trump and Congressional Republicans’ agenda. The 2025 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll found that 88 percent of Iowa farmers agree that profit margins on corn and soybeans are dropping due to increased input costs – and even Iowa’s own GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley has admitted that Trump’s tariffs “cause farmers to pay more for their inputs,” such as fertilizer. Iowa farmers have been caught in the middle of trade wars with top export partners like China, undermined by Trump’s $40 billion Argentina bailout, and had their labor force gutted by Trump’s massive deportation scheme.
      • Iowa’s economy is highly dependent on farming and agricultural exports, which account for tens of billions of dollars in revenue.
      • Iowa farmers are facing an existential crisis. In late 2025, Iowa recorded the second-most farm bankruptcies in the country, the most since 2021, doubling 2024’s total. Profits have fallen for farmers for three consecutive years, with the steepest losses occurring in 2025. Iowa farm income is expected to decline 24 percent in 2026, dropping by $3 billion.
  • HELP RIPPED AWAY: Trump’s budget cuts are ripping away vital assistance for health care, food, and more from thousands of Iowans. 
    • Thanks to Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, 117,000 people across Iowa who buy health insurance on their own through the Affordable Care Act are seeing their coverage costs at least double on average this year. About 14,000 fewer Iowans have signed up for health insurance through the ACA this year after the Trump-GOP budget ripped away critical tax credits that make ACA coverage affordable – 10 percent fewer than in 2025. All four of Iowa’s Republican congressmen voted against extending the ACA tax credits, ensuring premiums would spike. Iowa GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks was the lead sponsor of legislation that abandoned the ACA tax credits.
    • Trump and Republicans in Congress cut $187 billion in food assistance, which helps give about 264,000 Iowans access to food. These cuts leave an estimated 23,000 Iowans at risk of losing their food aid and leave Iowa without $126 million in annual federal funds.