RIPRIP,
Trump is one step closer to securing the third consecutive nomination for the Republican Party after a key vote.
Former United States President Donald Trump decisively won the Iowa caucuses, cementing his status as the Republican favorite in his bid to retake the White House in 2024.
Trump defeated former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday in a widely expected outcome, moving him one step closer to securing a third consecutive presidential nomination. .
Trump won at least 17 of 40 delegates, with Haley and DeSantis taking five each, provisional counts showed, and US media outlets called the state race within 30 minutes of voting starting.
Trump's resounding victory points to his continued dominance over the Republican Party, even as he faces mounting legal problems, including four criminal indictments.
Trump is expected to appear in court in New York on Tuesday as a jury considers whether he should pay more damages to a writer who won a $5 million jury award against him for sexual assault and defamation.
Trump's legal challenges have done little to diminish his support among Republicans, many of whom view the cases against him as politically motivated.
Iowa has a mixed record when it comes to predicting the eventual Republican nominee: George W. Bush was the last Republican presidential candidate to win the state in 2000.
But the largely rural Midwestern state is seen as an important springboard for candidates vying for delegates in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
Iowans braved dangerously cold weather to gather at more than 1,600 schools, community centers and other sites in the first vote of the 2024 presidential race.
Before the Iowa caucuses, Trump's control over the Republican base was clear: Polls showed the businessman-turned-politician holding a double-digit lead over his rivals.
Many Republican voters in Iowa see Trump as the best candidate to address their concerns about the economy, record levels of migrant arrivals at the southern border and global instability.
“We need something different from what we are doing now. It does not work. I was making more money than ever and now I'm more of a runner than ever,” David Brunell, a 32-year-old Trump supporter, told Al Jazeera before the caucuses.
“That says a lot about where the economy is.”
