Trump will win Iowa Republican caucuses, CNN projects

CNN —

Former President Donald Trump will win the Iowa caucuses, CNN projects, solidifying his place as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination as he attempts a historic political comeback nearly three years after leaving the White House in disgrace.

Trump’s victory in this, his first election since losing to Joe Biden in 2020, put to bed any lingering questions about his hold over the GOP, the potency of his right-wing message and whether his legal troubles would hobble him with primary voters.

“The people of Iowa sent a clear message tonight: Donald Trump will be the next Republican nominee for President. It’s now time to make him the next President of the United States,” Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., said in a statement.

CNN projects Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will finish second in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

But Trump’s victory puts new pressure on his two rivals ahead of next week’s contest in New Hampshire, where Haley is hoping to impress among a more ideologically diverse electorate.

The Iowa outcome is a deeper cut for DeSantis, who along with aligned outside groups spent heavily in the state hoping to overtake Trump and signal a changing of the guard in national Republican politics.

It was not to be.

Determined to avoid the disappointment of eight years ago, when he finished second behind Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the caucuses, Trump’s campaign invested in an estimable ground game. The focus: finding and turning out new voters.

People arrive at a caucus site at Fellows Elementary School as voters get ready to choose a Republican presidential candidate in Ames, Iowa, on Monday.

About half of Iowa GOP caucusgoers