Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.
Ten years ago in Iowa, Donald Trump spoke the truth — perhaps an occasion warranting a monument or maybe a shrine to him in Sioux Center.
The times may demand it.
Any truthful statement from Trump merits recognition, because the Washington Post calculated that during his first term as president, Trump made “30,573 false or misleading claims.”
As for that prescient comment on what was in store for us: it happened a campaign rally at Dordt University in Sioux Center on January 23, 2016. On his way to his first Republican nomination for president, Trump proclaimed: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.”
Any such assessment of the loyalty of Trump’s faithful — be it in Sioux Center or on Fifth Avenue — should include these six words: “What have you got to lose?” Trump would pose that question in 2020, after he repeatedly encouraged people to take an anti-malarial drug to escape COVID-19. At least several thousand deaths or more in six countries, including the U.S, were attributed to people having taken Trump’s promised cure, the untested drug, hydroxychloroquine. In addition, the Trump administration’s mismanagement of pandemic responses in 2020 may have contributed to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.
Since returning to the presidency, Trump has initiated, been involved in, or committed death-dealing acts far worse than his hypothetical New York City shooting. But, as he forecast, he hasn’t lost many votes—and none from Iowa’s Congressional delegation. Indeed, those up for election or re-election this November covet the endorsement of someone convicted of felonies and adjudicated to be liable for sexual abuse and defamation. (His accuser, E. Jean Carroll, had to wait years to receive $5.8 million in damages.)
Chaos fuels Trump support
If we have learned anything in the past several years, it is that nothing gets better or stays the same under Trump’s rampage. All the evidence suggests that enabled by Congress (including Iowa’s representatives) Trump’s reign will be unchecked and his impact will worsen. So it will be a rough ride, at least until the November election.
Coping with the Trump-related avalanches of lies and corruption is like trying to get a sip from the proverbial fire hose. One wielding such a “hose” in Iowa is U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson, endorsed by Trump for the Senate seat Joni Ernst is vacating. Trump’s misstatements and awful actions seem like fuel for Hinson’s continuous vehement support.
For her part, Hinson warns Iowa farmers that the federal “death tax” would wipe out much of the family farm value that kids can inherit from mom and dad. Holy cow, the federal inheritance rules would levy a 40 percent tax on an inheritance. But, oops, that’s only if the inherited value is $15 million from one person or $30 million from a couple.
A typical family farm of 400 acres, valued at $12,000 an acre, would amount to a total inheritance of $4.8 million. Juggle the figures however you want, you’re still well short of $15 million or $30 million. But Hinson doesn’t mention that to the voters with a stake in Iowa’s 87,000 farms, or to others who might be swayed by her “death tax” rhetoric.
That said, Hinson’s support falls far, far short of Trump’s self-promotion and abuse of his powers.
Trump’s egomania
We soon will have a new 2026 Semiquincentennial President Donald J. Trump $1 Coin, as part of the country’s celebration of its 250th anniversary.
That’s on top of a “limited-edition commemorative passport” the State Department is issuing. The so-called “Patriot Passport” features an image of Trump.
And we have the proposed Trump triumphal arch, which would block views of the Lincoln Memorial and the Arlington National Cemetery.
All that and more is on top of the total destruction of the East Wing of the White House, which Trump ordered to make room for his $600 million (and counting) 90,000 square feet ballroom. That’s where the wealthy and important people will gather to pay homage to Trump while the “We the people” of constitutional concerns continue to be ignored.
Since Trump returned to office in 2025, the destruction of USAID has claimed an enormous number of lives—preventable deaths in the millions, not thousands — perhaps as many as 23 million by 2030.
Incredibly, both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump adviser Elon Musk (who wielded the hatchet through his DOGE project) have minimized the deaths resulting from USAID cuts. National Public Radio reported in May 2025,
In testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on May 21, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared: “No one has died because of USAID [cuts]” — the cutoff of billions of dollars of U.S. support for global health programs.
At a subsequent congressional hearing, he said, “No children are dying on my watch.”
Musk continues to claim no one has died because of those cuts. NPR reported last month,
As recently as June 28 and 29 of this year, Elon Musk wrote on X that deaths in Africa went down after funding to USAID was cut and that those who indicate otherwise “cannot cite a single name of someone who died out of the ‘millions’ they falsely claim have died. Not a single name!” Last year, as head of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, Musk presided over the shutdown of the agency, noting that he was “feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”
USAID cuts killed people. That’s the truth
There must be an “on the other hand” to such lies. The recent NPR article profiled three children in Africa who died because USAID programs ended.
Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times provided another example in a column from last month: “USAID Cuts Killed People. That’s the Truth.” He wrote,
Until Trump’s second term, American aid cost just 23 cents for every $100 of gross national income and saved a life approximately once every 10 seconds. Seems like a bargain to me. Certainly it appears wiser than spending billions of dollars on a war with Iran.
I say “wiser” because all this is not just about compassion but also about self-interest. Aid money serves national security and protects us from diseases. I’ve noted that the current Ebola outbreak in Africa may have gotten out of control precisely because we cut aid spending in the region.
Yes, other countries should do more, impoverished countries should be less corrupt, and our own aid can be allocated more wisely. But note that some countries in Europe are significantly more generous than America, spending up to 10 times as much on aid as a share of national income as we do.
Studies on the impact of USAID cuts are consistent with Kristof’s concerns.
One from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health noted:
The study, by researchers from the United States, Spain, Brazil, and Mozambique, estimates that 91 million deaths were prevented between 2001 and 2021 in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) thanks to programs supported by USAID, the largest funding agency for humanitarian and development aid worldwide. However, recent U.S. foreign aid cuts could reverse this progress and lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, including more than 4.5 million children under five.
A report in Current Affairs expresses similar concerns under the headline “How Elon Musk Killed Hundreds of Thousands of People.”
All the deaths — like the more than 150 Iranian school girls killed in a U.S. air strike — are mournful answers to Trump’s question: “What have you got to lose?”
Only our democracy.