China Daily, an English-language publication owned by the Chinese government, took out four pages of sponsored content in Sunday's Des Moines Register highlighting the negative effects of President Trump's trade war.

The big picture: This isn't the first time the state-owned China Daily has bought ad space in a U.S. publication. It has frequently done so in the New York Times and Washington Post, among others, but its shrewd targeting of the Des Moines Register appeals directly to America's heartland, which data suggests has the most to lose from from an extended trade war.