Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., told Newsmax on Thursday that former President Donald Trump seems "fired up" and "full of energy" during his trip to Iowa this week.
"He's speaking better than ever, and he's, I think, having more fun than ever," Van Drew said during an appearance on Newsmax's "American Agenda." "I mean, he really enjoys getting out with the crowds. I've had the honor of campaigning with him sometimes, and he's a people person.
"He's a good person to sit down with, if you get a chance, quietly and talk about issues — he really does know them. And he's also a person that just enjoys and loves America and loves Americans, and he's doing very, very well."
Trump returned to Iowa this week after he had to cancel a rally in Des Moines last month due to the threat of severe weather. According to The Washington Times, he has not yet rescheduled the rally and arrived back in the Hawkeye State to tape a town hall event for Fox News and appear on a local radio show.
He reportedly contacted the Westside Conservative Club and asked to appear at its event at the Machine Shed Restaurant.
When asked if other candidates challenging the former president for the Republican presidential nomination are going to take any votes away from Trump, Van Drew said he doesn't think they take "any significant votes away."
"I think people know that, number one, he has the experience, he has the guts, he has, there's a word that's used in New York — moxie — he has the ability to really go in there and shake it up," the New Jersey congressman said.
"Let's everybody understand something," he continued. "People love him so much because he was the only one to truly come forward in Washington, D.C., and crack that rotten egg open and let everybody see really what was going on and is going on with our regulatory agencies, with the FBI, with the CIA, with the Department of Justice, with so many different parts of our government that weren't working right, and he got back on track.
"We need to do a lot more."
Van Drew said that Trump understands something that Beltway "traditionalists" don't get.
"If you've got guts and you've got energy, you can go in there and you can straighten this thing out a lot quicker than people think," he said. "He's right. We are at the precipice. We are at the edge.
"If we're not careful, we're going to lose our United States of America. We need a strong and powerful America, and we need to be number one in everything, and he's the only guy I know right now that can do that."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.