Severe weather forced former President Donald Trump to cancel his Iowa rally scheduled for Saturday night, the 2024 presidential candidate announced on his social media platform Truth Social.

The former president said he was ready to go, but had to wait on standby near the Palm Beach, Florida, airport before taking off for the Hawkeye State. Trump, who was set to appear in Des Moines, ultimately had to forego the trip after several counties across the state issued a tornado warning. Trump’s cancellation came as potential 2024 Republican opponent Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce his campaign launch any day, drew a significant crowd in Sioux City, Iowa.

“Unfortunately, due to the Tornado Warnings in Des Moines, we are forced to cancel today’s outdoor Rally at the Lauridsen Amphitheater,” Trump said. “Stay tuned, we will reschedule soon. Be safe out there!”

The cancellation spoils an anticipated faceoff in the crucial GOP primary state between the two Republican leaders. Trump, who consistently leads Republican primary polls by double digits, and DeSantis, who is the former president’s largest threat from within the GOP, are expected to engage in a long and dramatic GOP primary battle.

DeSantis gave the keynote address at the Feenstra Family Picnic in Sioux Center, telling the crowd of over 500 that Republicans “must reject the culture of losing that’s affected our party in recent years” and “the time for excuses is over.”

“If we make the 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures, and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board,” the Florida governor added.

Standing ovation for #Florida @GovRonDeSantis as he’s introduced in #SiouxCenter, #Iowa pic.twitter.com/l8EAEUkdmN

— Leonardo Feldman (@LeoFeldmanNEWS) May 13, 2023

DeSantis will also appear at a Republican state party fundraiser in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Saturday night. The event sold out, which marked only the second time in five years that such a regional event had sold out, according to Iowa GOP party chair Jeff Kaufmann, NBC News reported.

As for Trump, the Iowa rally would have been the first after he further solidified his position as the Republican frontrunner during a CNN town hall in New Hampshire earlier this week. The town hall was held a day after a grand jury in New York said he sexually abused and defamed author E. Jean Carrol. During the event, the former president sparred with reporter Kaitlan Collins and drew applause and laughter from the Republican audience when he addressed his recent civil trial.

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The former president is also in the midst of a legal battle with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who charged Trump with 34 felony counts stemming from his alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met one-on-one with Iowa voters on Saturday during a stop in Sioux Center where he gave a lengthy speech about the road ahead for conservatives ahead of his expected presidential announcement.

The governor’s trip to the Hawkeye State comes after he locked up endorsements from 37 state-level Iowa lawmakers this week, including Senate President Amy Sinclair, Senate Majority Whip Waylon Brown, House Majority Leader Matt W. Windschitl, and House Speaker Pro Tempore John H. Wills.

Speaking in a packed venue in front of approximately 650 people, DeSantis touted his record as Florida’s governor and the recent string of major legislative victories that he had this spring.

The governor warned that the political Left is “playing for keeps” and that if Republicans do not win big in 2024, it could spell serious trouble for the country moving forward in light of how poorly Biden has performed and the radical agenda he has pursued.

“If the Democrats are able to sweep in 24, if they keep the White House, gain in the Senate, and take back the House, they will try to pack the U.S. Supreme Court,” DeSantis said. “They will try to eliminate the Electoral College, they will try to make Washington, D.C., a state, and they will eliminate voter ID in every jurisdiction in this country and make ballot harvesting mandatory.”

“We got to demonstrate the courage to lead and the strength to win. If we do that, if we make 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures, and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board,” he said. “If we do not do that, if we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.”

“And I think it’ll be very difficult to recover from that defeat. And here’s the thing — I used to think our country was locked and loaded. Nothing can go wrong in terms of a free society. But freedom is fragile,” he continued. “And if you’ve lived through the last four or five years, you know that there were states in this country that forcibly shuttered churches, while allowing liquor stores and strip clubs to operate. We saw incursions on freedom that I would not have thought possible even six or seven years ago, but you know, our Founding Fathers understood the fragility of freedom very well.”

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Governor DeSantis: “If we make [the] 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board.”

We cannot “get distracted” and “focus the election on the past.” pic.twitter.com/BljseHuzwK

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) May 13, 2023

After delivering the speech, DeSantis spoke one-on-one with supporters and took photos. The Associated Press falsely claimed that he “made little effort to connect with voters one-on-one” and was later forced to remove the claim from their report.

.@RonDeSantisFL swarmed by supporters and chatting with Iowans after the Feenstra Family Picnic pic.twitter.com/J9zWAOMmiD

— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) May 13, 2023

Standing room only for @RonDeSantisFL in Iowa pic.twitter.com/krZcc6FthB

— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) May 13, 2023

DeSantis is working the crowd now after wrapping up his speech: pic.twitter.com/FnzPMSEzhU

— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) May 13, 2023

DeSantis worked his way through the room for a bit after the event, shaking hands & taking pictures with some of the Iowans in attendance: pic.twitter.com/MvhoDiGZBe

— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) May 13, 2023

DeSantis ended the event flipping burgers with Feenstra and Reynolds and chatting with some of the volunteers — he didn’t gaggle with press (though he later answered one question on his way back to his car about the border): pic.twitter.com/QjyFohIsbk

— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) May 13, 2023

pic.twitter.com/bSPwAtVRVr

— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) May 13, 2023