Trump the projected winner in Iowa's GOP caucuses

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump was quickly projected to be the winner of the Republican caucuses in Iowa on Monday, defeating several minor candidates who are challenging the president for the GOP nomination.

NBC News projected around 7:20 p.m. CT that Trump won, beating candidates Joe Walsh, a conservative radio host and former member of Congress, and Bill Weld, who was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 until 1997.

Trump celebrated his expected victory several hours later on Twitter, as results were delayed from the Democratic caucuses.

Earlier in the day, Trump encouraged Iowans to caucus Monday to support him, tweeting: "Republicans in Iowa, go out and Caucus today. Your great Trade Deals with China, Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea and more, are DONE. Great times are coming, after waiting for decades, for our Farmers, Ranchers, Manufacturers and ALL. Nobody else could have pulled this off!"

He also blasted out a video ad from his campaign on Twitter. The president was in Des Moines on Thursday hosting a Keep America Great rally for his supporters. He focused much of his remarks on the candidates running for the Democratic nomination.

"We are having probably the best years that we have ever had in the history of our country. And I just got impeached. Can you believe these people? I got impeached. They impeached Trump," he said. "No, that's not gonna work. Watch. Just watch."

Trump's campaign had dispatched 80 surrogates to Iowa in the days before the caucuses, including Vice President Mike Pence, Donald Trump Jr. and numerous Cabinet and other White House officials. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, tweeted a photo of him and other surrogates, including former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, in Iowa on Monday.

They were also joined by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., according to the president's campaign.

Trump's projected win came as the Senate trial was wrapping up in Washington, as House managers delivered their closing arguments in favor of convicting the president and the Trump legal team, by contrast, urged the GOP-controlled Senate to acquit him.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

According to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Trump trails top Democrats in hypothetical general election matchups. The survey found that Joe Biden leads Trump by 6 percentage points, though that's down from Biden's 9-point lead in October. The poll also found that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., leads Trump by 4 percentage points.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

The president, on the other hand, narrowly leads Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, by 1 percentage point.

Forty-six percent of voters said they approved of Trump's job as president in the poll, while 51 percent said they disapproved of his performance.