'He thinks he owns Iowa': Trump's attacks have left conservatives fuming in crucial state

Former President Donald Trump is alienating conservative voices in Iowa, the first state in the calendar to hold a GOP presidential contest, as the primary season draws nearer, reportedThe New York Times on Tuesday.

"He lashed out at Iowa’s popular Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, and then his campaign informed one of the state’s politically influential evangelical leaders, Bob Vander Plaats, that the former president would skip a gathering of presidential candidates this week in Des Moines," reported Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman.

"The back-to-back moves on Monday — which the campaign of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida labeled a 'snub of Iowa conservatives' in an email on Tuesday — show the extent to which Mr. Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, acts as if he is immune to traditional political pitfalls while he is also under indictment and his rivals are seeking to capitalize on some voters’ fatigue with his antics."

Steve Boender, who helps run the Family Leader gathering Trump is blowing off, said, “With Trump’s personality, I feel he thinks he owns Iowa. And I’m not sure he does. I think Trump’s negativity is hurting things a little bit.” Former Iowa GOP chair Cody Hoefert, agreed, saying of Trump's feud with Reynolds, “It was a continuation of a series of unforced errors by the former president.”

Trump's grievance with Reynolds, who became governor when Trump appointed her predecessor to an ambassadorship is that she has attended far more events for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is trying to come out of the gate with an early victory in the caucus, than events for Trump. She is currently trying to force through a six-week abortion ban, which would apply even before most women know they are pregnant — a policy Trump recently claimed was too "harsh."

Furthermore, noted the report, "the Family Leader event — which is expected to feature Mr. DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, Vivek Ramaswamy, the former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley and former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas — is the second major conservative gathering in two months that Mr. Trump is bypassing."

Even if Trump ultimately doesn't triumph in Iowa, it isn't necessarily a sign he is in serious trouble for the nomination; he commands a 30-point lead in the polling aggregate, and he did not win Iowa when he first received the nomination in 2016, losing out to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) before dominating in later contests.