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Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Arrival at Dubuque, IA, Nov. 1, 2026

November 1, 2026 · The White House · 0:09:06

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What happened

President Donald Trump took questions from reporters on arrival at Dubuque, Iowa on November 1, 2026, two days before the midterm elections, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the officials traveling with him, according to the White House. He opened with news he said had just been announced: Representative Haley Stevens endorsing Mike Rogers in Michigan, a move the President called smart and one nobody expected, saying Rogers’s opponent would, in his words, destroy the country. Rogers, invited to speak by the President, said he had sent Stevens a note and spoken with her, called her courageous for standing for truth, and framed the Michigan race as a contrast between, in his words, common sense and crazy, as he stated it. The President said he had never met Stevens but had great respect for her, noting she had nearly won a race she was expected to lose by a wide margin, and said he would call to thank her.

On the day’s campaign stops, the President said the party had to make sure Ashley and Senator Roger won in Kansas, describing Roger as a fantastic senator, and said the rallies on this midterm swing had sold out arenas everywhere with tens of thousands unable to get in — energy, he said, never seen for a midterm cycle, as he stated it.

Asked about a report that Senator Chris Murphy was in the hospital after a stroke, the President said he had just heard about it inside, was a little surprised because Murphy is a pretty young guy, and said nobody wants to hear a thing like that and that he would reach out at the right time, as he stated it.

On Canada, the President said the two countries now had, in his words, the concept of a very good deal, that he had spoken with the Prime Minister the other day and again the day before, and that the deal would be great for American farmers and for the country and fine for Canada too. He said U.S. farmers had been paying tremendous tariffs to send products into Canada — as much as 400 percent for milk products and other things — and that under the agreement there would be no tariff on them, as he stated it. He said Canada would build the Keystone pipeline and pay for all of it, with the United States providing the route, which he said was largely determined. An official traveling with the President, whom he introduced as a Keystone expert, said Canada exports over 4 million barrels of oil to the United States and called that a great thing for American farmers and ranchers and for diesel prices, as he stated it.

Asked about the Pentagon releasing its hold on a number of wind farms, including one in Iowa, the President said the administration would see how it works out, repeated that he is not a believer in wind, calling it a very expensive form of energy, and said the United States has more oil and gas than any other two countries in the world combined, citing Venezuela and Greenland as well, as he stated it. Asked about a call with Prime Minister Netanyahu, he said only that they had a very good talk.

The President also described a restoration he said was finished but had been badly vandalized — cameras are now in place, he said, and grass burned out with acid around it had to be replaced — and said an event there might be held the next day, as he stated it. Closing on the Alaska ballot lawsuit, he rejected a suggestion it was meritless, called it one of the most meritful cases, said it concerned, in his words, voter fraud at the highest level, and said he understood it would be dismissed only so the federal government could take it over, as he stated it.

Why it matters

On the final weekend before the November 3 midterms, the Dubuque arrival gaggle puts the President’s closing campaign case — the Stevens endorsement in Michigan and the Iowa and Kansas stops — on the record alongside the first on-camera outline of a Canada deal concept built on zero tariffs for U.S. farm exports and a Canadian-built, Canadian-paid Keystone pipeline. This chronicle files it on the Elections & Governance hub with every claim attributed to the President.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the President’s dated, checkable claims as stated in this gaggle — a concept of a Canada trade deal under which U.S. farmers would pay no tariffs into Canada and Canada would build and pay in full for the Keystone pipeline, and his midterm crowd and energy figures — are markers to test against any signed agreement and the November 3 results. Noted for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Arrival at Dubuque, IA, Nov. 1, 2026,” Dubuque, IA, November 1, 2026 (official upload, embedded above; published November 1, 2026). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the President and the speakers in the gaggle.