Trump calls for Omar to resign, defends Ramaswamy campaign ad at Iowa rally
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SIOUX CITY -- While President Donald Trump came to Sioux City Thursday to rally with Iowa Republicans facing contentious elections in November, he spent a portion of his speech defending Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and criticizing Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Iowa currently has an all-GOP federal delegation. This could change in the 2026 midterms -- polls and political forecasters predict the U.S. Senate race and three of the four House races in Iowa will be highly competitive in the Nov. 3, 2026 election. State and federal leaders have said Iowans could play a decisive role in determining which party controls Congress for the remainder of Trump's second term.
Trump came to Iowa as part of a larger tour to support Republicans across the country. While he did speak in favor of U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, running for the U.S. Senate, as well as Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn at the event, he also took time to talk about recent campaign developments in other states.
He brought up a "breaking news" report that Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, had not used her "real name" when she was to elected and sworn into Congress. The president was referencing reports published Thursday about an ongoing investigation into Omar and claims that the representative's full name was "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi."
"It's not looking good because she used a fake name to be sworn in, I assume she must immediately have to resign from Congress," Trump said.
The president also said to "please inform our great speaker of the House of Representatives ... Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, her real name, has openly admitted to fraud, and she will not be legally allowed to be a member of that august body. If you get sworn in with a false name, I would imagine that's pretty tough."
In a response to Fox News Digital earlier Thursday, a spokesperson for Omar said, "This is completely false. Ilhan Omar is her real name."
Earlier in October, Homeland Security Investigations conducted an early morning raid of Omar's home in the District of Columbia, which a Department of Justice official told States Newsroom was "part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation" regarding her immigration paperwork. The president called Omar a "scammer" and said she comes from a "non-country" as a Somali refugee.
Additionally, he defended Vivek Ramaswamy as the Republican candidate has faced significant backlash for a campaign advertisement in the Ohio gubernatorial race. Ramaswamy's campaign released an ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton, who called her daughter a "liar" and urged Ohio voters to not support her in the election.
Court documents show Acton's mother lost custody of Amy Acton and her brother after Acton's stepfather was charged and arrested for sexually abusing her when she was 12 years old. The stepfather pleaded not guilty and fled the state after posting bond, becoming a fugitive until his death in 2004.
The advertisement has drawn bipartisan criticism. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, called for Ramaswamy to pull down the ad Thursday, saying, "it's just wrong to continue to run it." But Trump said when Ramaswamy called him to consult on the ad, he told the Republican gubernatorial candidate to keep the ad up.
"The mother is calling the daughter a terrible person and a liar, everybody should be so lucky," Trump said. "Why would you shield somebody from that? Why would we do that? So I told them, leave it up and look upstairs and say, 'thank you, God, very much. I appreciate it.' But that's a hot story for me. They wanted to take down an ad. I only wish I could have had an ad like that against somebody. But as it turned out, we didn't need it."
Trump, Hinson criticize Turek on Statehouse votes
Hinson, who is running to fill Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst's seat in 2026, repeated comments on the important role Iowa plays in 2026 at the Trump rally.
"The stakes here are pretty high, right? That's why you're all here today," Hinson said. "Iowa could very well be the majority-making seat in the United States Senate. If we lose this seat here in Iowa, the Democrats will control the U.S. Senate, mark my words. And that is why Chuck Schumer is spending over $50 million dollars here in Iowa to try to buy this seat."
Hinson is running against Iowa Rep. Josh Turek, a Democrat, in the upcoming election. The U.S. Senate race has brought a massive amount of outside spending into the state. According to Open Secrets' analysis of recent Federal Election Commission disclosures, Turek has brought in slightly more than Hinson in outside spending at $59.85 million to the Republican's $51.67 million.
The Republican claimed her opponent was receiving support from groups affiliated with Senate Democratic leadership because Schumer, Senate minority leader, "knows that he would have a reliable and very liberal vote in Josh Turek."
Trump called Turek a "woke far-left radical."
He claimed the Council Bluffs Democrat had voted to "allow schools to turn your children transgender without informing the parents" and that "he wants men in girls' bathrooms."
These claims are reference Turek's vote against a Republican-led measure banning transgender students from using school restrooms that conflict with their assigned sex at birth. He also voted against a measure that requires parental consent if a child requests gender-related accommodations like the use of different name or pronouns at school -- a law that is currently being challenged in court for banning books that contain depictions of sexual acts from being available in K-12 school libraries.
Trump also criticized Turek's votes related to several immigration measures. Turek has campaigned as a Democrat who supports strengthening border security and improving the immigration system, saying in a campaign ad, "I'll work with anyone to fix it, including President Trump."
Hinson said Turek's voting record showed he was "too liberal for Iowa."
"There's never a good time to elect a 'tax and spend' liberal to the U.S. Senate. Now would be the worst time," Hinson said. "We're going to keep Iowa red and keep Iowa, Iowa."
A Turek campaign spokesperson emphasized the Democrat's bipartisanship in the Iowa House.
"Josh Turek is a common-sense prairie populist who has always done what's right for Iowans, even when it meant breaking with his party. Josh voted with Republicans more than 700 times to lower prices, cut taxes, address immigration, and keep Iowans safe - that's why he is independently recognized as one of Iowa's most bipartisan and effective legislators, and it's why Iowans will send him to the Senate in 12 days."
Hinson pushes back on campaign attack ad claims
Hinson also took time to address "two of the lies that are really starting to irk me" in campaign attack ads.
She said Turek and Democrats were lying about her by saying she trades stocks "and got rich off my public service." In statements and campaign ads, Turek has criticized Hinson for retaining private stock in Elliott Hartman Agency, an insurance company founded and sold by her husband, despite speaking and voting on banning members of Congress from stock trading.
Hinson told the crowd her husband "sold his business, and now he has a private stake in that business, but not public stock -- it's as simple as that." She said she and her husband sold all of their publicly traded stocks when she was elected to Congress in 2021.
"Nothing could be further from the truth, and Josh Turek knows that, so shame on him for lying about this," Hinson said. "But it's been very clear, and I've made it very clear that I am fighting to actually root out the corruption in both parties in Washington D.C. -- career politicians need to be held accountable, and so I want to clear the air on this vote. I actually voted to ban members of Congress from trading stocks. The only reason that's not a law is because Chuck Schumer and the Democrats blocked it in the Senate."
Hinson said "the other lie that he's pushing is that I tried to vote to block the release of the Epstein files."
"Can you believe that? I think, as a woman, I find that one especially offensive. Right? It's disgusting. It's completely made-up nonsense," Hinson said.
As a member of the U.S. House, Hinson voted, alongside all members of the state delegation, to pass the "Epstein Files Transparency Act" in 2025. But Democrats have cited her vote against an amendment compelling the release of the Epstein files, and her decision to not sign off on the initial discharge petition to override leadership and force a vote in the House on the bill as proof that she did not support releasing the information about the Florida financier and convicted sex offender. In July 2025, Hinson stated she disagreed with the approach of U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, to compel the release of the files while saying she supporting Americans pursuing justice against Epstein's crimes.
"I will say this: of course, I voted to release the Epstein files, and I think every single creep who actually did something wrong should be held accountable for that, and I think there's a special place in hell for those people," Hinson said.
A Turek campaign spokesperson disputed Hinson's characterization of her stock holdings:
"Ashley Hinson is lying to Iowans - she still owns up to $5 million in private insurance stock and made as much as $1 million off it last year alone, despite telling Iowans she sold all her stock. Iowans are sick and tired of corrupt politicians like Hinson who sell out Iowans to enrich themselves and their donors."
Republicans urge voters to stay enthusiastic
Trump urged voters to "pretend I'm on the ballot" and vote for Republicans in the election to ensure his administration's work on issues from immigration law enforcement to tax cuts stay in place.
"If (Democrats) win the midterms ... it's the start of something very bad, very dark, very horrible for our country," Trump said. "They will do it again. They're going to open up the borders. They're going to have men playing in women's sports. ... But the proud people of Iowa will never let that happen."
He also repeated claims that he will provide $5,000 to every American if Republicans win the U.S. House and Senate in the midterms. Even if Republicans retain majorities in both chambers, there is no certainty that the appropriations proposal would be passed through both chambers.
"If the Republicans win, you'll each have $5,000 in your pocket and economic success for our country like we have never ever seen before," Trump said.
Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann told the crowd to not let reports about Democrats' chances in the upcoming midterms dampen their spirits.
"I need you to ignore the polls. I need you to ignore the media. And I want you to do one simple thing: Follow your heart and follow this process that has done so much for this state historically," Kaufmann said. "Iowa loves Ashley Hinson. Iowa loves Ashley, and Iowa will forever love Donald Trump."
Iowa Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, attended the rally to observe -- and said he believed Democrats may be in a stronger position in 2026 than in the last Trump midterm election cycle in 2018. In 2018, he was the Democratic nominee for Iowa's 4th District, when he lost to former U.S. Rep. Steve King by a 47% to 50.3% margin -- a much tighter race than typically seen in the longtime conservative stronghold.
He said he believed there was less GOP enthusiasm in 2026 than in 2018, because more Iowans are frustrated with Trump and Republicans for high gas costs, the ongoing war in Iran and the impacts of tariffs on Iowa's economy.
"I don't think any pollster, anybody can really predict who's going to be turning out or who doesn't turn out," Scholten said. "The one big thing that I notice is -- I lived 2018, and we pulled out, Democrats pulled out a ton of votes. ... What I don't think we anticipated was Republicans were just as excited, and turned out a lot of people too. I don't feel that this time."