Former President Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign headed to Maquoketa, Iowa, on Wednesday in an attempt to shore up support ahead of the Hawkeye state's first-in-the-nation caucuses next year.

The Iowa caucuses, scheduled for Jan. 15, are the first nominating contests of the GOP primary schedule and remain a crucial race for Trump to win to effectively end the Republican presidential primary and secure the presidential nomination. Although Trump lost the caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during the 2016 GOP primary race, he still went on to secure the nomination.

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However, this election cycle, Trump's many competitors, chief among them Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), are hoping to blunt his campaign's momentum by winning the Iowa caucuses and establishing themselves as a viable alternative to Trump who can defeat President Joe Biden during next year's elections. But Trump's trip to Iowa on Wednesday and his other forthcoming trips to the Hawkeye State in the coming weeks could block his rivals from staging an upset in January.

"We want to get through the caucus. We want to get through it right away, and we want to win it by numbers bigger than we won it even the last time, if that's possible," Trump said to a friendly crowd of Iowa supporters. "In less than four months from now, we're going to win the Iowa caucuses in a historic landslide. I think it's going to be a landslide. You see what's going on with the polling. We've been like a rocket ship."

"And the polls have been incredible," he continued. "We're up 60 points — 60. Think of it: who the hell ever thought that was gonna happen so quickly?"

Trump was likely referencing a Wall Street Journal poll released at the beginning of September showing him receiving 59% of support among GOP primary voters. Other polls have confirmed that the former president is the overwhelming favorite among the base.

An Emerson College poll released earlier this month shows Trump still leading the GOP field in Iowa at 49% compared to DeSantis's 14%, although Trump's support has decreased since May when he dominated the survey at 62%. Nevertheless, other Iowa polls show Trump comfortably in the lead, echoing his even larger lead over his rivals in national polls. Trump leads DeSantis by double digits, 58.5%-12.5%, in a RealClearPolitics poll average. No other candidate polls in the double digits.

During his wide-ranging, hour-plus-long Iowa speech and Q&A portion, Trump repeatedly sought to remind his supporters to caucus for him in January and to sign a pledge reiterating their vote for him.

"If you want to save America from 'Crooked Joe' and the radical Left, then get out and be patriots — and you're all patriots — make sure that they're registered Republicans," he later said. "Get all of your friends out at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 15. That's when it all begins, Jan. 15 on a Monday. It's a good beautiful day."

Trump then claimed that he would attend the caucuses to loud approval from the crowd. "In fact, I think I'll come up for it," he said. "Should I come up? Yeah. I'll get them out with you."

The appeal to Iowans further suggests just how seriously Trump is committed to winning the caucuses as he looks forward to a possible rematch with Biden in 2024. Before this week, other Republican rivals had heavily stumped in Iowa, hoping their ground game could lift them to a win. DeSantis has previously banked his campaign on winning Iowa and has committed to visiting all 99 counties.

The former president took several shots at the Florida governor during his speech, referring to him derisively as "Ron DeSanctimonious" and blasting him over ethanol, Medicare, and Social Security policies while calling him a Republican in name only. "He's a disciple of Paul RINO. Do you know who Paul Ryan is? Paul Ryan," Trump said, referring to the former House speaker. "But he's a disciple of that whole group."

Trump did not directly address any backlash he has faced from his Republican rivals and advocacy groups who protested his recent comments during a Meet the Press appearance where he referred to DeSantis's six-week abortion ban as a "terrible thing." However, he has emphasized repeatedly on the campaign trail that he was responsible for nominating the three conservative Supreme Court judges who helped to overturn Roe v. Wade last year. It doesn't appear that his conservative supporters will abandon him anytime soon.

He also referenced the interview to brag about the ratings his appearances give networks and take a subtle critique of the host Kristen Welker. "I did Meet the Press this week, and they got fantastic ratings," he said. "And it was one question after another after another after another and we went through this whole hour."

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"She was, you know, nice, although kept interrupting me because she wasn't loving some of the answers I was giving," Trump said of Welker. "But you love the answers I was giving."

Trump then took another shot at host Megyn Kelly whom he sat down for an hourlong interview last week, the first time in seven years they were conducting an interview together. "She became nastier all of a sudden. She was pretty nasty," Trump said of Kelly. "Didn't you think, anybody that watched it? But they both asked many questions, many, many questions, and I could have gone on for hours."