1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

With the Trump's approval rating sinking to just 33 percent, which is 33% too high, Trump officials flooded into Iowa, of all places, to prop up shaky Republican candidates. Leading the parade was Pete Hegseth, who showed up at the Iowa State Fair to campaign for Congressman Zach Nunn: And while Hegseth tried to sell that war on the campaign trail, our sixty-day MOU with Iran expired the same day with no agreement. No final deal. No talks even scheduled. Today, Trump said he won’t extend it, and told Iran to, quote, “put up the white flag of surrender.” All while our troops are still exhausted at sea and we are quite literally running out of missiles. That’s what’s on Hegseth’s plate, but he opted for a state fair instead. For the record, this isn’t normal. There’s a reason every previous administration, Republican and Democrat, has kept the Pentagon out of campaign season. The military stays out of partisan politics. That’s the rule, so why break it now? Well, thirty-three percent is why. Hegseth knows exactly how much trouble his party is in, and his answer is to go save some seats. And he didn’t go alone. RFK Jr. was in Iowa too, while childhood vaccine exemptions hit another record high and measles surges. So was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, while the economy is losing jobs. A whole procession of Cabinet officials, each with their own emergencies to deal with, out stumping for votes. And remember, they’re doing it in a state Trump won by thirteen points. That’s how far the map has slipped. But there’s just one thing Republicans haven’t figured out: the approval rating is sinking because of their messes. The war, the economy, the outbreaks. Fix those, and the numbers will look better. But of course, they’d rather campaign than actually do their jobs.