DES MOINES, Iowa — The first contest was no contest.
Former President Donald Trump was projected to win the Iowa caucus in a blowout Monday night — confirming his standing as the clear front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination.
Trump’s victory doubles as a serious blow to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who invested heavily in a ground game operation that failed to overcome the former president’s popularity among Iowa voters.
Trump’s campaign had been planning on a blowout win in the first-in-the-nation caucus, with the 77-year-old’s team rolling out a “10 for Trump” strategy relying on caucus captains to recruit new or irregular caucus-goers to put their support behind the former president.
That support was evident at a Sunday afternoon event in Indianola, where hundreds of Trump backers showed up to watch his remarks — and told The Post they were all in for the former president.
DeSantis and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy had gone on a late campaign blitz leading up to Monday, holding multiple in-person events daily throughout the state. Former South Carolina Gov. Haley had cancelled her events over the weekend to account for a winter storm and frozen conditions that made driving treacherous.
On the coldest caucus night on record, Iowa Republicans braved snow, icy roads, and a wind chill that made it feel like negative-30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Despite the near-dangerous conditions, the White House hopefuls had urged their supporters to show up to the in-person-only vote.
Trump and his rivals don’t have much time to digest Monday’s results, as the Republican primary calendar shifts to New Hampshire and the Jan. 23 first-in-the-nation primary.