Trump heading to Iowa this month to talk education

Former President Trump is traveling to the early presidential caucus state of Iowa later this month, a scheduled visit that comes three days after Florida governor and widely presumed 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (R) also visits the Hawkeye State.

Trump’s campaign announced on Thursday that he would be making a speech on his “America First Education Policy” in Davenport on March 13.

DeSantis, meanwhile, will be in Des Moines and Davenport three days earlier to attend several events, which will also include Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), according to The Des Moines Register, citing an official familiar with Reynolds’ plans. 

Details regarding who will be at Trump’s event were not immediately clear from the campaign’s announcement. But the topic of choice is noteworthy given that DeSantis — in addition to other Republicans such as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin — have largely used the issue of education as a talking point.

Youngkin’s campaign focused on critical race theory — a collegiate-level academic framework examining racism as a systemic issue in the nation’s institutions that has become a catch-all political buzzword for any teaching in schools about race and American history — and parental involvement in school curriculum during his successful 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race.

DeSantis signed legislation last year targeting topics of gender identity and sexual orientation in classroom instruction. More recently, the Florida governor’s administration made headlines when it rejected an Advanced Placement African American Studies course over its curriculum. 

Trump’s announcement also comes more than a week since he announced his campaign leadership team in the state.