Former US President Donald Trump Wins Iowa Caucuses, Thanks Hawkeye State for Backing Him

Former US president Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses defeating Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, American news media outlets projected. He received the most votes from Republican caucus-goers.

The former president was the frontrunner in Iowa leading up to the caucuses. The win in Iowa is an early victory in Donald Trump’s pursuit of the Republican Party’s nomination.

“Well, that was fast. Thank you Iowa. Now let’s end this nonsense and go after the insanity that is today’s Democrat party. Enough is enough! It’s time to put America first for a change,” Trump said in a social media post shortly after winning the primaries there.

Trump led polling for more than a year but the Iowa caucuses were seen as the clearest insight yet into whether he can convert his advantage into a stunning White House return. US media outlets took just half an hour from the opening of polls to project the winner.

Donald Trump secured almost three quarters of the early vote. The fight is now between Nikki Haley, former US envoy to the UN and Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, for the second place.

Republican Iowans endured life-threatening cold and dangerous driving conditions to participate in the voting that took place across hundreds of schools, churches and community centres across the state.

A report by news outlet CNN said that temperatures in Iowa were colder compared to Alaska and that several cities of Iowa witnessed temperatures lower than even America’s northernmost town, Utqiaġvik, Alaska, 4,830 kilometres to the northwest in the Arctic circle.

Donald Trump may fly to New York later on Monday night (local time) and may likely present himself in court where a jury is set to decide whether he will pay additional damages to columnist, E. Jean Carroll, who last year won a $5 million jury award against Trump for sex abuse and defamation.

He will then fly to New Hampshire. The Granite State is next in the Republican primary calendar. He will hold a rally there on Tuesday evening.

The Hawkeye State has acted as an uneven predictor of who will ultimately lead Republicans into the general election. George W. Bush’s 2000 victory was the last time a Republican candidate won in Iowa and went on to become the party’s standard-bearer, a report by the Associated Press said.