U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing at the White House, on the one-year mark into his second term in office, in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 20, 2026. REUTERS Nathan Howard
The Iowa primary election ended President Donald Trump's sweep of his endorsed candidates, with a non-Trump endorsed candidate winning after GOP voters cast ballots for them over the president's pick. Now, CNN's data guru is looking at how Trump is working out for those in farm country.
"You know, Iowa has been traditionally a field of dreams for the president of the United States. But it's quickly turning into a potential field of nightmares," said data analyst Harry Enten on Friday.
Enten thinks that it's as a result of a " rural revolt" that is unfolding against Trump.
"Take a look here. Rural voters and Trump look, according to Fox News, he was easily winning them back in October of 2024 versus Kamala Harris, 18 points ahead. The exit poll even had it by a bigger margin. But look at where he is now. Whew! Down there underwater, underneath the cornfields. He's now 14 points underwater," continued Enten.
It's a 30-point drop for Trump on whether people trust him to navigate the economy. It proves to Enten that there is a "rural revolt" against Trump.
One of the factors is that rural voters simply didn't like the Democratic nominee in 2024. Under Trump, however, the economy and inflation are the largest factors working against him.
Enten looked specifically at rural America's attitudes on those issues, showing that Trump was up 37 points, and now is down 17. It's an over-50-point drop.
"Rural voters, like the rest of the country, are turning against Trump on the key issue that got him elected to a second term back in 2024," Enten said.
CNN host John Berman was shocked to see the significant drop in the numbers.
Ironically, the candidate Trump endorsed won the "vote by mail" ballots, while the candidate he didn't support won as a result of the vote on Election Day cast in person.
"It seemed to me that Iowa Republicans said, you know what? We hear you, Donald Trump, but you know what? We're dismissing that message again, part of a larger picture in my mind of rural voters not tuning in to what Donald Trump is telling them at this point," explained Enten.
Enten then suggested the idea that it could put the Iowa Senate race in jeopardy for Republicans.
"If, all of a sudden, you're able to put Iowa on the board, if you're a democrat hoping to win back control of the United States Senate, that would be a massive piece of the puzzle. And the last time Iowa elected a Democratic governor was all the way back in 2006. And that looks like a more likely possibility than not," Enten closed, citing the prediction markets.