Initial results from eight counties showed Trump had far more than half of the total votes counted by 8:31 pm. ET, with the rest of the field trailing behind.
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Associated Press called the results on Monday night, based on an analysis of early returns as well as results of AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 1,500 voters who planned to caucus.
Trump was recorded to have sizable leads among both men and women, as well as every age group and region throughout the state.
Moments before AP called him the winner, the former president was met by cheers from a caucus site crowd in Des Moines.
“I would appreciate your vote. I think I deserve it,” he told them.
“We were a great nation three years ago and today people are laughing at us.”
The focus of tonight’s race will now be on Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who are battling it out for second place.
A victory in Monday night’s caucus does not guarantee Trump, who held a commanding double-digit lead over his fellow GOP foes for months, the Republican presidential nomination – but gives the former president bragging rights over his opponents.
In the 2016 Iowa caucus, Trump finished second behind Texas Senator Ted Cruz before cruising to the GOP presidential vote and winning the presidency.
Among voters who identify as born-again Christians – a relatively weak group of support for Trump in 2016 – tonight’s survey found that Trump was favored by 58% of voters intending to caucus, compared to 18% for DeSantis and 13% for Nikki Haley.
The former president spent all but one day campaigning in Iowa, as his large margin in the polls allowed for some leeway.
During his lone campaign rally over the weekend, Trump blasted Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and his enemies who “crave to destroy the MAGA movement.”
“These caucuses are your personal chance to score the ultimate victory over all the liars, cheaters, thugs, perverts, frauds, freaks, creeps, and other quite nice people,” Trump told the audience in Indianola, Iowa, on Sunday.
“The Washington swamps has done everything in its power to take away your voice. But tomorrow is your time to turn on them and to say and speak your mind and to vote.”
The former president threw stiff jabs at his top rival in the race, Haley, telling supporters that she was “not up to the job.”
“The only people getting rich right now are Joe Biden’s donors and Nikki Haley’s donors,” Trump said.
“She happens to be a globalist, by the way. I know her very well. She’s not up to the job. I can tell you.”
SECOND PLACE
With Trump romping through the competition, all eyes were on DeSantis and Haley, who have been campaigning for second place for months.
Ahead of the Iowa vote, Trump publicly attacked Ramaswamy, an enthusiastic defender of his, for the first time.
“Vivek started his campaign as a great supporter, ‘the best President in generations,’ etc. Unfortunately, now all he does is disguise his support in the form of deceitful tactics,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the ‘other side’ – don’t get duped by this. Vote for ‘TRUMP, don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA.”
Meanwhile, without criticizing Trump, Ramaswamy told reporters on Sunday that the former president’s attack was an “unfortunate move by his campaign advisers.”
“He probably got bad advice, to be honest with you,” Ramaswamy said.
“I don’t think friendly fire within our ‘America First’ movement is helpful, and I’m not going to hold it against him.”
Ramaswamy, who sits in fourth place in most GOP primary polls, guaranteed to stay in the presidential race until November.
“I’m gonna guarantee to stay in this race through November of this year when we win the election, through January of next year when I’m inaugurated as your next president, through January of 2033 when we leave that White House after two full terms,” he told Dispatch.
The Republican presidential hopefuls now focus on New Hampshire ahead of the primary on January 23.
Unlike in Iowa, Trump has already scheduled a January 20 rally in Manchester days before the state’s first primaries.
Haley appears to be gaining on the former president in New Hampshire, trimming Trump’s lead in the GOP primary race in New Hampshire to single digits, according to a CNN poll.
About 39% of voters in The Granite State back Trump, while Haley’s support continues to gain steam at 32%, per the CNN poll.
The former United Nations ambassador has jumped around 12 percentage points since November.
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