“I would end the trade war on the first day of my presidency,” said Steyer at ShinyTop Brewing, 520 Central Ave., Friday night. “It’s bad for American workers, bad for American consumers — but it’s terrible for American farmers.”

While U.S. farmers have reportedly lost billions of dollars in exports, supporters of the trade war believe the economy will be stronger in the long-term because of it.

Steyer, a self-made billionaire, described the trade war as a “straight-up mistake.”

“It’s a trade war that took away the biggest customer for farmers in Iowa,” said the 62-year-old businessman, who resides in San Francisco. “He’s given waivers to oil companies not to use biofuels. This is a guy who clearly doesn’t understand what drives agricultural communities.”

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Democratic Presidential candidate Tom Steyer speaks Friday evening during a campaign stop at ShinyTop Brewing in downtown Fort Dodge.

Steyer, who in 2017 started a movement called Need to Impeach with the idea of impeaching Trump, said that movement would work to his advantage among world leaders.

“Countries around the world will understand I don’t like him because I started the movement to impeach him,” Steyer said.

In 1986, Steyer founded an investment firm called Farallon Capital, headquartered in San Francisco. He has a net worth of $1.6 billion.

Almost 30 years later, Steyer founded NextGen America in 2013. NextGen is a nonprofit group that combats climate change.

One of Steyer’s first orders of business as president would be to continue that theme.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Democratic Presidential candidate Tom Steyer makes a point as he speaks Friday evening during a campaign stop at ShinyTop Brewing in downtown Fort Dodge.

“Climate is my number one priority,” said Steyer, while a snowstorm was brewing outside. “And I say that because it has to be.”

After the event, his campaign bus was briefly stuck on the snow-covered roads in downtown Fort Dodge.

After a few minutes and with the help of supporters pushing on the back of the bus, it was able to move on to its next destination.

Steyer said that for the last two weeks he has been reading about the wildfires in Australia.

“Australia is on fire,” he said. “This is not the worst we will see.”

As president, Steyer said he would declare climate change a state of emergency on day one.

Part of Steyer’s plan calls for eliminating “fossil fuel, asthma-causing and toxic air pollution from all sectors to achieve a 100% clean energy economy.”

He would also triple federal funding for climate science, which includes: research, development and deployment of advanced clean technology.

But Steyer said it’s going to take a global effort to make the right impact in terms of helping climate change.

Steyer is among a crowded field of 14 Democratic candidates running for president. He is trying to qualify for the next debate ahead of the Iowa Democratic caucuses on Feb. 3.

On Friday, Steyer reported that he met the donor threshold as part of the Democratic National Committee requirements, but has not met the poll requirements.

Steyer and others have been critical of the requirements, saying that the polls that count have not been released since the last debate on Dec. 19.

Steyer believes every American should have five fundamental rights, which should be protected by law.

Universal health care should be a right, he said.

“Every American has a right to health care in the 21st century,” Steyer said.

He also believes in the right to an equal vote, right to clean air and water, right to learn and right to a living wage, to which Steyer said he would raise the federal minimum wage to “more than 15 bucks.”

He said the American people ought to be able to pass laws themselves.

“In 26 states, you can put something on the ballot and if enough people vote for it, it’s a law,” Steyer said. “That’s how I’ve taken on corporations.”

He added, “If we could pass our own laws, we could pass background checks on every gun purchase.”

Steyer continued, “It’s a corrupt system. We have to take back this government because when we do, we will get all the things the people in this room want. We will get affordable health care as a right for every American. We will get quality education from pre-kindergarten to college as a right.”

Steyer said, if elected, he would work for the people.

“I promise I will put everything I have in fighting for the people of the United States,” he said. “I will give every single thing I have to work for you.”