Trump wins Iowa caucuses as he gears up for rematch with Biden; DeSantis comes second

Former President Donald Trump has won the Iowa caucuses, reaffirming his status as the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination as he seeks a rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.

Securing the widest margin of victory in the history of Iowa Republican caucuses since 1976, Trump marched on to victory with ease. With 40% of the expected vote tallied, Trump had 52.6%, while Ron DeSantis was at  second with 20% and Nikki Haley third with 18.7%, according to Edison Research.

In a statement, Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesperson for the main super political action committee supporting Trump, said, "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." 

Ron DeSantis edges Nikki Haley to win second place behind Donald Trump in the Iowa GOP caucuses. DeSantis had visited all 99 countries in Iowa and was facing a potential rock-bottom scenario that could force him to end his campaign. The numbers also put him far behind Trump and Haley in the more moderate Northeastern state of New Hampshire, where Republicans will choose their nominee eight days from now.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announced he is suspending his presidential campaign at his campaign’s watch party in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday. "I will stick to the truth tonight. The first hard truth and this was hard for me, I gotta admit this, but we've looked at it every which way. And I think it is true that we did not achieve the surprise that we wanted to deliver tonight," he said. "As of this moment, we are going to suspend this presidential campaign," he added.

Despite bone-chilling cold and plunging temperature, Iowans gathered at more than 1,600 schools, community centers and other sites for the state's GOP caucus. Earlier polls too indicated that the Iowans were mostly backing Trump. According to an Edison Research entrance poll, only one-third of caucus-goers said Trump would be unfit for president if convicted of a crime. 

Two-thirds said they did not believe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, embracing Trump's falsehoods about voter fraud. 

Trump did not hide his expectations. "I don’t know about the total number of votes because, you know, it is a little cold out there, but not really, and remember, everybody is indoors," Trump said during an interview with Jeff Stein on News/Talk 1540, an eastern Iowa radio station. "So you’re not standing outside. So I think it’s going to be very close to record-setting, maybe even record-setting."