Buttigieg presses an anti-Trump message in Iowa and demands Democrats make their agenda clear

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Pete Buttigieg returned to Iowa with some subtle and not-so-subtle messages about what has changed since he ran in the state's 2020 Democratic presidential caucuses.

His speech Tuesday included mentions of his adopted twins, a boy and a girl, and how he explained to his daughter the different nicknames for the American flag. He talked of flying into the Cedar Rapids airport after visiting while President Joe Biden's transportation secretary to oversee the facility's expansion. And having left the state in 2020 as a youthful candidate not quite 40 years old, Buttigieg was now sporting a burgeoning beard.

His speech sounded like he was preparing for a second White House bid. Buttigieg gave a strident critique of President Donald Trump's administration while demanding Democrats make their agenda clear and reach out to people who disagree with them.

“We are being tested on nothing less than whether the United States of America is in fact the freedom-loving people that we believe and know ourselves to be,” Buttigieg told an audience of more than 1,000 in his first public political appearance since leaving the Biden administration in January.

It was a return to where Buttigieg emerged as a national political figure six years ago, when the millennial former South Bend mayor rose among a class of better-known Democrats to finish atop the Iowa caucuses in 2020. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also finished near the top as well in a glitch-plagued contest, and The Associated Press did not call a winner, given remaining concerns about whether the results as reported by the party were fully accurate.

“It feels really good to be back in Iowa,” Buttigieg said at the outset of the town hall-style meeting, with many in the audience sporting slightly worn Buttigieg 2020 campaign caps and T-shirts. “Anyone can come to Iowa just before an election's coming up. I wanted to make sure I got a chance to talk to the people I got to know five and six years ago, and the people I’m just getting to know.”

The combination rally and policy chat toggled between questions about the future of the Democratic Party, both nationally and in Iowa, after three consecutive elections where Donald Trump has carried the once-competitive swing state.

A man began by saying, “I caucused for you six years ago,” to which Buttigieg replied politely, “Thank you.”

The man responded, “It's a treat to hear someone speak in complete sentences," prompting an explosion of applause and a standing ovation. “I do my best,” Buttigieg answered with a quick head nod.

As much as an indictment of the first months of the second Trump administration, Buttigieg argued Democrats' reemergence as a leading national party must come with a concise telling of what they support.

“There's this theory that we should just hang back and let them screw up. I disagree,” he said. Buttigieg acknowledged Democrats need to revisit some of their policy principles without naming any.

But he pivoted quickly to note, "We need to be in touch with our first principles, what we would be doing if we were in charge.” Among them, he argued, was to restore a federal right for a woman to receive an abortion, he said, prompting a 30-second standing ovation.

Buttigieg, a former intelligence officer in the Navy Reserves who served in Afghanistan, was headlining an event sponsored by the Democratic political organization VoteVets, which is focusing on Trump's cuts to federal agencies and how they affect veterans and military families.

A number of other potential 2028 contenders are traveling the country in the early days of the second Trump administration.

Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent joint rallies have drawn large crowds around the country, including in Republican-led Western states. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker recently called for mass mobilization of Democrats at a speech in New Hampshire, and Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland and Tim Walz of Minnesota plan stops in South Carolina at the end of May.

An audience member asks a question of former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

The audience applauds former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Ava Jones of Iowa City, a traumatic brain injury survivor and currently battling stage four Hodgkins lymphoma, asks former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg a question about the impacts of cuts to medical research and educational institutions during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg answers questions from the audience during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg answers questions from the audience during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg listens to a question from the audience during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Brenda Masters of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, greets former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, wearing a t-shirt she made while volunteering for Buttigieg during the 2020 Iowa Caucus, during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaks during a VoteVets Town Hall, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Cliff Jette)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)