Trump allies to barnstorm Iowa for caucuses

President Trump’s closest aides and allies will barnstorm Iowa during the state’s presidential caucuses next week in a flex of his reelection campaign’s political muscle. 

Five top Trump allies, including the president’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, will lead a group of more than 80 surrogates across the first-in-the-nation caucus state on Feb. 3. Other top surrogates will include Trump’s daughter-in-law and senior campaign adviser Lara Trump, senior adviser and former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle and Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale.

Hundreds of Iowa Republicans will also be speaking in support of Trump at caucus sites across the state, the campaign said.

Trump isn’t facing any threats to his political standing among Republicans in Iowa, and the caucuses are expected to be something of a coronation for his reelection bid. Two Republicans are running long-shot campaigns to oust him, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.). Neither is likely to put up a serious challenge to Trump’s claim to the GOP nomination. 

Parscale said the flurry of Caucus Day events in Iowa is intended to be something of a warning shot for Democrats, who are also holding their presidential caucuses in the state next week. 

“Our Caucus Day operation is just a preview of what is to come,” Parscale said in a statement. “This will be the strongest, best funded, and most organized presidential campaign in history. We are putting the Democrats on notice — good luck trying to keep up with this formidable re-election machine.”

Unlike the Republican caucuses, the Democratic caucuses are fiercely contested, with four candidates battling for the top spot in the state and several others vying for standout finishes that could boost their momentum ahead of later nominating contests. 

Recent polls suggest that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden are in the best positions to take first place in Iowa on Feb. 3, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) are hoping to cut into their leads in the final days before the caucuses.