(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that Iowa GOP gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn was “much more Trump” than U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, whom he endorsed before Iowa’s June 2 primary.
In the final days before the primary where five candidates competed to become the Republican nominee for governor, Trump weighed in to endorse Feenstra, currently representing Iowa’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House. He made a post on TruthSocial Friday, May 29, ahead of the Tuesday primary saying Feenstra had his “Complete and Total Endorsement.”
Though some political watchers of Iowa’s elections believed the president’s backing would help Feenstra gain the ground needed to win the Republican nomination, he ultimately fell short. Republican Zach Lahn, a farmer and businessman, ended up winning the primary with 38% to Feenstra’s 37.2%, according to the Associated Press, followed by former Iowa Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, former state Rep. Brad Sherman of Williamsburg; and state Rep. Eddie Andrews of Johnston.
Feenstra’s loss was one of the first major defeats for a Trump-backed candidate during the 2026 primary cycle. An unnamed White House ally told Politico’s Playbook that the president was angry that he was pressured to support Feenstra leading up to the election.
“He’s really angry about this Iowa endorsement — like really, really angry,” the source told Politico. “He’s really angry that his consultants and people pushed him to do that.”
Answering questions from reporters Thursday, Trump again answered questions on his endorsement of Feenstra while pointing out that Feenstra was “only one out of hundreds of races” where he endorsed a candidate in the Republican primary.
In Iowa, he said “the man running against (Feenstra) was all Trump,” presumably referring to Lahn, who won the nomination. Lahn, who is affiliated with the “Make America Health Again” or “MAHA” movement led nationally by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, was endorsed by Turning Point Action, the political advocacy arm of Turning Point USA the same day Trump endorsed Feenstra.
Lahn, who has not previously held political office, previously worked for the Koch-affiliated advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, and in 2018 had launched a private pre-K through 12th-grade school named Wonder in Kansas. He has campaigned on issues like addressing Iowa’s high cancer rates, restricting out-of-state land ownership and corporate influence on Iowa’s agriculture industry, and as an “Iowa First” candidate, including advocating for a policy to ban H-1B visa holders from being employed by the Iowa state government and universities if elected.
The candidate has also faced criticism from Democrats, including his general election opponent Rob Sand, for previously living and being registered to vote in Kansas, and continuing to fly frequently between Kansas and Iowa as some of his children are based in Wichita.
Trump said Thursday he believed he would have supported Lahn if given more information about the election.
“Had I been given the proper information, which I don’t think I was, I probably would have endorsed the other person … or not endorsed at all,” Trump said. “But I would have endorsed the other person. The other person was much more Trump, as you know, than Randy.”
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