Trump unveils plan for $15bn Iowa steel plant he calls biggest in US history

President Donald Trump announced Monday that what he described as the largest steel plant in American history will be constructed in eastern Iowa, a project his administration hopes will bolster Republican prospects in a competitive midterm Senate race.

Speaking from the Oval Office alongside Iowa's leading Republican officials, Trump said the facility would rely on modern manufacturing methods to produce steel that is both high in quality and competitively priced. He claimed construction was already underway.

According to a White House official, the plant will be developed by Mesabi Metallics at a cost of roughly $15 billion, with commercial production targeted to start in 2030, well after this year's midterm elections. Mesabi Metallics is owned by the India-based Essar Group, meaning the venture Trump touted as an American manufacturing milestone is backed by foreign ownership. Federal support is also flowing into the project: the Export-Import Bank, a government agency, has committed as much as $10 billion in financing.

Rewant Ruia, chairman of Mesabi Metallics, said when asked about the project's reliance on materials from abroad that most essential inputs would be sourced domestically, though some components necessary for producing the highest grades of steel would still need to be imported.

Trump used the announcement to highlight Republican congresswoman Ashley Hinson, who attended the event and is seeking the Senate seat currently held by retiring Republican Joni Ernst, also present in the room. Trump told Hinson he had seen encouraging polling numbers for her campaign.

Recent survey data tells a more complicated story. A Marist poll released last week showed Hinson trailing her Democratic opponent, Josh Turek, by eight percentage points in the traditionally conservative state. An earlier poll from Emerson College had put Hinson slightly ahead, though it also found that voters held concerns about the impact of tariffs. Democrats have identified the Iowa seat as one of four they need to flip to regain control of the Senate this November.

Trump said the new plant would be supplied with iron ore from a Mesabi Metallics mine in Minnesota, a state that historically produced a large share of the nation's iron ore output during the 20th century. He took the opportunity to criticize Minnesota's Democratic governor, Tim Walz, calling him one of the worst governors in the country's history while acknowledging the state's mineral resources. The two have been at odds over mining policy, including Walz's decision in August to pause permitting for mining operations near the Boundary Waters wilderness area.

Despite the foreign ownership behind the project, Trump credited his administration's tariff policies for drawing the investment to the United States, arguing that companies are choosing to build domestically in order to avoid import taxes. He suggested that critics of his trade policies understand its benefits but are reluctant to acknowledge them.

The president said the Iowa plant is projected to generate as many as 6,000 construction jobs and close to 2,000 permanent positions in manufacturing and mining, along with an estimated $95 billion contribution to the broader US economy, according to figures he cited during the announcement.