Trump, DeSantis and other 2024 GOP candidates set to address Iowa Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event Monday, March 13, 2023, in Davenport, Iowa. (AP Photo/Ron Johnson)

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Donald Trump and rival Ron DeSantis will appear for the first time at the same campaign event in early voting Iowa on Friday at a pivotal moment for the Republican presidential candidates.

Trump, the early front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, is making a rare appearance with the rest of the field at an Iowa Republican Party fundraiser a day after he was charged with additional counts over his retention of classified documents after leaving office. He is also bracing to soon be charged in Washington over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump has typically avoided attending events that put him in the lineup with the rest of the crowded field and has questioned why he should share the stage with his trailing rivals.

But with Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses less than six months away, Trump and a dozen other GOP hopefuls are taking advantage of the chance to speak to about 1,200 GOP members and activists at Friday’s Lincoln Day Dinner.