Donald Trump took time out of his campaign schedule to hand out pizza to his supporters and even signed an enthusiastic fan’s crest.
He made the first of five planned visits to Iowa on Wednesday, addressing crowds in Maquoketa and Dubuque as he tries to win the election. Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
But the former president, 77, was later seen handing out pizza to delighted fans at Kathy’s Treehouse Pub & Eatery in Bettendorf.
Trump was filmed handing boxes to people, signing autographs and engaging with the crowd as they chanted, “We want Trump.”
It comes as he claims he told an aide to deny any knowledge of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Donald Trump took time out of his campaign schedule to hand out pizza to his supporters and even signed an enthusiastic fan’s crest
The former president, 77, was spotted handing out pizza to delighted fans at Kathy’s Treehouse Pub & Eatery in Bettendorf
A video was shared on X of Trump lending a helping hand to the staff at Kathy’s Treehouse Pub & Eatery, where more than a hundred people were gathered.
He was seen picking up pizza boxes and handing them to members of the excited crowd. “Take it man,” the former president can be heard telling a fan.
While another man shouts: ‘Who wants Trump pizza?’ before the capacity crowd starts shouting.
Trump then hands a box to a woman and says, “Here you go, honey.”
The crowd began chanting “we want Trump” as the former president signed an autograph for a fan.
He was even seen signing an enthusiastic waitress’ top before he inked her forearm and she stuck her tongue out in joy.
She was heard saying: ‘We are so honored to have you here, thank you so much. We love you. My dad is your biggest fan and so are we all.”
Trump then turned to the crowd and began orchestrating cheers while handing out high fives and handshakes.
They shouted his name and sang along to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
It is not the first time that Trump has come to a restaurant and addressed his supporters.
He stopped by a local pizzeria in April after a long speech in Fort Myers, where he asked fans if they wanted to enjoy the piece he had already bitten off.
Trump visited Downtown House of Pizza and the owners said they were “truly honored.”
The former president also headed straight to the iconic Cuban restaurant Versailles after his appearance in Miami federal court in June.
He offered to buy food for everyone and listened to customers sing “Happy Birthday.”
‘Food for everyone!’ Trump shouted at the famed eatery during the surprise stop after pleading not guilty to 37 federal charges related to the mishandling of classified documents.
Earlier on Wednesday, he addressed a crowd of more than a thousand people in the small town of Maquoketa as part of his campaign.
“In less than four months, we’re going to win the Iowa caucuses in a historic landslide,” Trump predicted.
He urged attendees to support him during the Jan. 15 caucuses and asked them to bring friends.
This showed his team’s promised commitment to organizing better in Iowa than in 2016, when Trump finished a close second behind Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Supporters from northeastern Iowa lined up outside the expo building at the Jackson County Fairgrounds hours before Trump’s arrival.
Trump spoke at the start of his speech about his 2016 loss and blamed his previous campaign team.
“They didn’t do the caucus thing very well and I learned a lot,” Trump acknowledged, adding, “I don’t like second place, though.”
At a second event in Dubuque, Trump addressed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom he has long considered his top target, as he praised his administration’s efforts to help Iowa farmers and crack down on illegal immigration.
Trump recited a poem he sometimes reads about a woman who invites a sick, frozen snake into her home, only to be bitten.
“That’s what’s happening in our country,” he said.
His campaign in Iowa followed claims that he told an aide to deny any knowledge of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Molly Michael began working for Trump in the White House in 2018 and remained his assistant after his departure.
She resigned last year over his alleged refusal to return documents he took from the White House, and has since testified before the Jan. 6 committee.
On Tuesday, ABC news reported that she told investigators looking into Trump’s handling of classified documents that he was trying to silence her.
After Trump learned last year that the FBI wanted to interview Michael, sources told ABC, Trump allegedly told her, “You don’t know anything about the boxes.”
Michael became increasingly concerned about Trump’s response to the National Archives’ repeated requests to return classified documents he had taken, the sources said.
She felt there were many people around Mar-a-Lago who could “easily” refute his public statements that all documents had been returned.
Michael even told Trump that many people, including maintenance workers, had seen the boxes at Mar-a-Lago and knew there were many more than the fifteen he claimed.
And she told investigators, according to ABC’s sources, that Trump knew full well there were classified documents in the boxes because he was familiar with their contents and had been shown a photo of a storage room with all ninety or so boxes in it.
The indictment against Trump for mishandling classified documents and refusing to return them alleges that Trump asked one of his lawyers at the time, “Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we have nothing here?”
Molly Michael testified about note cards before the January 6 House Committee
Michael, left, is seen with Johnny McEntee, former director of the Presidential Personnel Office, on May 1, 2020
Stacks of boxes containing classified documents are depicted in Mar-a-Lago
Documents were kept in the bathrooms – with so many boxes they were even stacked in the bath
In June last year, Trump’s attorney, Evan Corcoran, oversaw a search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and turned over 38 of them to the FBI, signing a statement confirming that the subpoena for the documents was complete complied with.
But officials did not believe Trump had been honest with them and launched an unannounced search of the property in August, turning up another 102 papers.
Michael told investigators there were more.
She said she returned to work after the raid – she had not been in her office at the time – and found her desk in disarray. She noticed that To Do lists that Trump had drawn up for her were still there, buried under papers.
The To Do lists were scribbled on the backs of documents with secret markings, she said.
Michael did not comment on ABC’s report.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, said ABC’s report stemmed from “illegal leaks” of the investigation and lacked “proper context.”
Cheung said the Justice Department needed to urgently investigate the leaks.
“These illegal leaks come from sources completely lacking proper context and relevant information,” he said.
“The Justice Department should investigate criminal leaks, instead of carrying out their baseless witch hunts.”
