 President Donald Trump talks with former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Ambassador to China as they walk off of Air Force One at Eastern Iowa Airport, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Wednesday, June 21, 2017.... (Associated Press) 
 
 CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Struggling to advance his agenda in Washington, President Donald Trump traveled to the Midwest on Wednesday for a raucous rally with his loyal supporters — the kind of event he relished before winning the White House. A feisty Trump spoke for more than an hour at a rally in Cedar Rapids that was similar to those he held during last year’s presidential campaign. His legislative agenda is struggling to gain traction, a federal investigation of alleged Russian meddling into the election and possible collusion with Trump’s campaign continues, and his approval rating is below 40 percent in most polls. “I do like President Xi,” said Trump, who was with the new U.S. ambassador to China, former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. But Trump touted job gains and an improving stock market as evidence that his economic policies are working, and he lauded his wealthy appointees such as his top economic adviser Gary Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs executive, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a billionaire known for his investments in distressed industries. “In those particular positions, I just don’t want a poor person — does that make sense?” Trump said. Buoyed by Republican victories in special congressional elections in Georgia and South Carolina on Tuesday, Trump blasted his opponents as “unbelievably nasty” and said cable news anchors appeared stunned by the Democratic losses.
– President Trump spoke to 6,000 supporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Wednesday night at a gathering that strongly resembled one of his raucous campaign rallies—right down to whistle-blowing protesters and chants of "Lock her up" when Hillary Clinton's name was mentioned. In what is being widely described as a "victory lap," Trump, making his first trip west of the Mississippi since becoming president, spoke for more than an hour and unveiled policy proposals including a plan to ban immigrants from receiving welfare for their first five years in the US. A roundup of coverage: Trump said he will ask Congress to pass a law ensuring new immigrants "support themselves financially and should not use welfare for a period of at least five years." The rule already exists as part of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, though large parts of the act were rolled back under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Fox reports. Trump plans to expand the list of benefits that new immigrants will not be eligible for. In one of his most controversial remarks, Trump defended his choice of billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as commerce secretary, explaining that he doesn't want poor people to hold economic roles in his administration, the Guardian reports. "I love all people, rich or poor, but in those particular positions I just don’t want a poor person," he said. The AP reports that Trump made no mention of the assorted scandals he is dealing with in Washington, apart from a brief reference to the "witch hunt" Russia probe. "All we do is win, win, win," Trump said, boasting of the GOP's 5-0 winning streak in special elections and slamming "unbelievably nasty" Democrats and the media. "The truth is, people love us ... they haven't figured it out yet," he said, per the Hill. Trump said he has come up with a plan to put solar panels on his proposed border wall, but dismissed wind energy, the New York Times reports. "I don't want to just hope the wind blows to light up your house and your factory as the birds fall to the ground," he said. The president said he has been calling for a healthcare plan "with heart," but complained that he would get no help from Democrats in getting it through Congress, reports Reuters. "If we went and got the single greatest healthcare plan in the history of the world we would not get one Democrat vote because they’re obstructionists," he said.