Trump is headed to Grand Island, Nebraska, located in the solidly conservative south-central part of the state. It’s part of what the Republican president says is a 32-day blitz of rallies ahead of Nov. 3 that so far has taken him to Oklahoma and Alabama. On Wednesday, he'll make his second stop in two weeks in Texas with a rally in San Antonio.
“The president’s coming to Nebraska to help me campaign, so I can get reelected,” Ricketts told the Associated Press last week on Capitol Hill.
Ricketts, a former governor of the state, was appointed then later elected to fill Sen. Ben Sasse’s seat when he left to run the University of Florida in 2023. Now he is running for his first full six-year term against independent Dan Osborn — a race that initially was not expected to be competitive but is now being watched by the national parties.
The administration's plan to allow more imports of foreign beef has particularly roiled the agriculture-rich state of Nebraska. Trump wants to lower beef prices for consumers, but ranchers have rebelled against the import proposal, arguing it would undercut them.
“The plan to import low-quality foreign beef is not helping Nebraska ranchers,” Ricketts told the AP. “I would advise the White House to change that policy and look for longer-term things that will help us build the size of the herd and ultimately bring the price of beef down for consumers.”
