DES MOINES, Iowa – Former President Donald Trump cruised to an easy victory on Monday night in the Iowa caucuses, the lead off contest in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating calendar.
The Fox News Decision Desk made call for the former president at 8:31pm ET, a half an hour after the caucuses got underway across the Hawkeye State.
Trump made history last year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments, including charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss, have only fueled his support among Republican voters.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Trump, who narrowly lost the 2016 Iowa caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, assembled a formidable get-out-the-vote machine in the state over the past year.
The big questions as Monday night unfolds is whether Trump will capture a majority of the vote in the caucuses, or top the largest previous margin of victory by a Republican presidential candidate in the caucuses.
It is still too early to call whether former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will win a distant second place behind Trump.