President Donald Trump traveled to Wisconsin on June 6 for a town hall with farmers, seeking to reassure a constituency hit hard by his tariff policies and the economic consequences of the US-Israel war with Iran.
The event, held in Chippewa Falls, came months before the November midterm elections. Trump aimed to shore up support for Republican Representative Derrick Van Orden, a Democratic target as the party seeks to flip control of the House.
Van Orden has been a loyal Trump ally, praising the president as the best leader for rural Americans. His Democratic challenger, Rebecca Cook, has raised substantial funds and leads in recent polls.
Analysts say Democrats are likely to win the House, currently held by Republicans. If successful, they could severely hamper Trump's agenda in the final two years of his term.
“I love this place — Wisconsin, and I hope you all vote Republican, because let’s be honest, the Republican Party is the side of common sense,” Trump said.
The visit also served a broader goal: strengthening support among farmers, who backed Trump in the 2024 election. But farmers have been especially hurt by his aggressive tariffs, which have spurred other countries to curb imports of US agricultural products, particularly soybeans. Tariffs have also driven up the cost of imported inputs for farming.
The administration has tried to offset some of the damage with temporary aid packages for farmers. Meanwhile, fertilizer costs have soared since the US and Israel launched war against Iran on February 28, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz driving up prices of key components like urea.
A survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation in April found that 70% of US farmers said they could not afford their full fertilizer needs. The average gasoline price this week was $4.04 per gallon, up $1.08 from a year earlier, according to the American Automobile Association.
Trump reassured the crowd that the administration was “almost finished” with the Iran war “one way or another,” and promised that fertilizer and gasoline prices would “plummet.”
The visit came as multiple polls show Trump's approval rating at historic lows, around or below 40%. A Marquette Law School survey in late May found only 19% of respondents approved of his handling of gas prices, and only 22% backed his management of inflation and cost of living.
Some Republican leaders have also warned that certain recent Trump actions could further alienate voters worried about the economy, including a plan to set up a $1.8 billion Department of Justice “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate individuals—including Trump supporters—who claimed they were victims of political prosecutions. That plan was later scrapped.
Additionally, Trump proposed spending $1 billion on White House ballroom security, despite earlier claims that taxpayers would not foot the bill.
