The President of the United States, Donald Trump, revealed this Monday the launch of what will be "the largest steel plant in the history" of the country, which will be built in the state of Iowa. The choice of this territory is not casual, as it is a key place where Republicans are competing for one of the closest Senate races ahead of the upcoming midterm elections on November 3.
The factory, promoted by the company Mesabi Metallics, will involve a private capital injection of nearly 15 billion dollars (13.2 billion euros). According to forecasts released by the president himself, the project will create up to 6,000 jobs during the construction phase and around 2,000 direct jobs in the manufacturing industry. "Two years ago our country was dead, and now we are the most attractive country in the whole world," Trump proclaimed from the Oval Office of the White House, defending that his strategy of tariffs on foreign steel has revitalized the sector.
The announcement had a clear campaign tone just a month before the legislative elections, in which Republican Ashley Hinson faces Democrat Josh Turek for a Senate seat. Although polls indicate a very close contest in the state, Trump has minimized the importance of the surveys, labeling them as "false" and praising Hinson as "one of the best politicians in the United States," convinced that "she will bring a lot of money to Iowa." The president recalled that "I won in Iowa by thirteen points. It makes no sense that they are not up to my level," to discredit the polling projections.
The industrial complex will complete a fully national supply chain, from the extraction of the ore to the final production, by using iron from mines located in Minnesota and managed by the same company. The Republican governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, has applauded the initiative and emphasized that "it changes the economic trajectory of this region, which is one of the most depressed" in the state and the entire Midwest.
In his appearance, Trump also referred to the international agenda, stating that trade frictions with Canada will be resolved "in the next three or four weeks." Additionally, he reiterated his commitments regarding global security, promising that "Iran will never have a nuclear weapon" and that they will win that war "very soon."