WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday announced a new $15 billion steel plant being built in Iowa, highlighting an economic victory in a key battleground state where Republicans face competitive midterm races.
Trump announced the new plant at an Oval Office event alongside steel executives and Iowa Republicans, including two running for office. The event highlighted Iowa’s elevated status for Republicans and for Trump, who on Monday pledged to campaign there in coming weeks.
“We’re going to do a great rally. We’ll all be there together,” Trump said alongside Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for the U.S. Senate, and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who is up for re-election. Also joining him were Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Joni Ernst, who are not seeking new terms in office.
The new steel plant is being built by Mesabi Metallics, a Minnesota company owned by India’s Essar Group, an industrial conglomerate. Trump said the project will become the largest steel plant in the United States. It is expected to produce 10 million tons of steel a year after it’s fully built out.
The plant was projected to begin production in 2030, supplied by a new $2.5 billion iron ore mine that Mesabi developed along Minnesota’s Mesabi iron range. The resulting steel will be produced from start to finish in the United States, the White House said.
Trump said the American steel industry is “roaring back to life,” crediting it to the 50% tariffs on steel imports that he imposed last year.
“Everyone is building their plants here because they don’t want to pay tariffs,” Trump said. “It’s really not that complicated.”
Trump in June also approved the takeover of iconic American steelmaker U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, a move that had been blocked by Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor, and initially opposed by Trump as a 2024 Republican presidential candidate. After returning to office, Trump later backed a deal that gave the federal government a say in some company decisions.
The Oval Office announcement at times took on the tone of a campaign event. Introducing Hinson, Trump described her as a “young lady who is going to be hopefully elected to the Senate.”
“She’s outstanding, one of the top anywhere in the country,” Trump continued. “They talk about her all the time.”
Trump told Ernst she had done a wonderful job in the Senate and said he would miss her: “I can’t believe you’re leaving,” he said.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance both have touched down in Iowa this year to shore up Republican enthusiasm and energize voters before the Nov. 3 elections.
Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of Iowa’s Republican Party, said the announcement was made possible by the state’s Republican leadership, including from Reynolds.
“Investments of this magnitude do not come to Iowa by accident,” he said. “They come to states with low taxes, responsible budgets, fewer burdensome regulations, and leaders who understand that the role of the government is to help job creators succeed, not stand in their way.”
Mesabi Metallics is based in Nashwauk, Minnesota. The Essar Group is an industrial conglomerate formed in India in 1969, with ventures in industries from energy and mining to technology and retail, according to its website.
Joe Broking, CEO at Mesabi Metallics, called the announcement a “major moment for U.S. made steel,” saying the factory would be supplying a critical product that U.S. national defense, cars and trucks, shipbuilding, household appliances, energy and infrastructure depend on.
Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C., contributed to this report.
