Trump notches a commanding win in the Iowa caucuses as Haley and DeSantis fight for second place – JS

DES MOINES, Iowa — Donald Trump decisively gained the Iowa caucuses on Monday along with his closest rivals languishing far behind, a vital victory that reinforces the previous president’s grip on his occasion on the outset of the GOP’s 2024 nomination battle.

It was not instantly clear who would emerge because the second-place finisher, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Caucus voters endured life-threatening chilly and harmful driving circumstances to take part in conferences that unfolded in a whole bunch of faculties, church buildings and group facilities throughout the state.

The outcomes are simply the primary in what shall be a monthslong effort for Trump to safe the GOP nomination a 3rd consecutive time. However the victory sends an unmistakable message to the Republican Get together that the nomination is Trump’s to lose and crystalizes the problem going through his GOP opponents.

Trump was already looking forward to a possible basic election matchup towards President Joe Biden as he addressed a whole bunch of cheering supporters at a caucus web site on the Horizon Occasions Middle in Clive, Iowa.

“He’s completely destroying our nation,” Trump mentioned of Biden. “We had been a terrific nation three years in the past and at this time persons are laughing at us.”

Biden’s group, in the meantime, introduced that he and the Democratic Nationwide Committee raised greater than $97 million within the final quarter of 2023 and completed the yr with $117 million within the financial institution, an effort to exhibit how Biden is getting ready for a attainable rematch whereas Trump is competing within the main.

DeSantis and Haley are competing to emerge as the highest different to the previous president. Haley hopes to compete vigorously in New Hampshire, the place she hopes to be extra profitable with the state’s impartial voters heading into the Jan. 23 main. DeSantis is heading to New Hampshire on Tuesday solely after a cease in South Carolina, a conservative stronghold the place the Feb. 24 contest might show pivotal.

Earlier than she left, Haley supplied a refined jab at Trump whereas addressing voters at a similar caucus web site.

“If you wish to transfer ahead with no extra vendettas, if you wish to transfer ahead with a way of hope, be part of us on this caucus,” she mentioned. “I ask to your vote. And I promise you I’ll ensure every single day I give attention to what it takes to make you proud.”

A number of hundred folks rose to their ft in applause.