Trump announces $15 billion Iowa steel plant ahead of midterms

President Donald Trump announced plans Monday for a roughly $15 billion steel plant in eastern Iowa, highlighting the jobs it could bring to a state with a competitive Senate race. Mesabi Metallics plans to build the plant, which is expected to begin production in 2030, years after November’s midterm elections.

Trump called it the largest steel plant in American history. “Using advanced steelmaking technology, the plant will produce some of the highest quality, most affordable steel anywhere in the world,” he said in the Oval Office. The Guardian reported that Iowa Republicans stood alongside him; Al Jazeera reported that Mesabi executives joined him for the announcement.

Mesabi, a Minnesota-based company owned by India’s Essar Group, plans to supply the plant with iron ore from Minnesota. Al Jazeera reported that Mesabi invested more than $2.5 billion to build a mine there, the state’s first new iron ore mine in 50 years. The Iowa plant is expected to have an initial production capacity of 7.5 million tonnes a year, according to Al Jazeera.

Trump said construction had already begun. He projected up to 6,000 construction jobs, nearly 2,000 manufacturing and mining jobs, and a $95 billion addition to the U.S. economy. A White House official told Al Jazeera that the first construction phase would generate 5,000 to 6,000 jobs; Al Jazeera said the plant could bring more than 1,700 jobs to the region.

The Guardian reported that the federal Export-Import Bank would provide up to $10 billion in financing. Asked whether building the plant would require materials from abroad, Mesabi Chairman Rewant Ruia said “most of the critical materials” would come from the United States, though some materials used to make and refine the highest-quality steel might need to be imported.

Trump credited his tariffs for the investment. “Everyone’s building their plant here because they don’t want to pay tariffs,” he said. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also pointed to the steel tariffs, saying: “Without those tariffs, this mine does not get built, and this steel plant does not get built.” Al Jazeera reported that Trump imposed 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports last year, a move that also threatened to raise prices for products using those materials.

The announcement brought Trump together with Republican Representative Ashley Hinson, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Joni Ernst. Both women attended. “I saw some good polls just recently,” Trump told Hinson. “Looks like you’re doing well.”

Surveys have produced differing results. The Guardian reported that a Marist poll put Democrat Josh Turek eight points ahead of Hinson, while an earlier Emerson College poll showed Hinson narrowly ahead. Al Jazeera cited a two-point Hinson lead in a Trafalgar Group poll and a two-point Turek lead in an InsiderAdvantage poll. Democrats see the seat as one of four they need to win to retake the Senate, according to The Guardian.

Trump also criticized Minnesota Governor Tim Walz while discussing the state’s iron ore. The Guardian reported that the two have clashed over mining, including Walz’s August order halting permitting for projects near the Boundary Waters wilderness.