Donald Trump has easily won the Republican party’s Iowa caucuses, according to a projection by Sky’s US partner NBC News.
The voting is the first step in a process that’s likely to see the former president picked as Republican candidate for November’s election.
Mr Trump was overwhelming favourite to win the state and all eyes were on his margin of victory and who finished second.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley were both hoping for a respectable result to position themselves as a credible challenger.
NBC News projects Mr DeSantis has finished just ahead of his rival.
Speaking as his victory became clear, he thanked those who backed him and detailed his plans if he regains the White House.
Covering familiar ground, he pledged to stop the “invasion” of migrants at the Mexico border and “drill baby drill” for oil.
He also promised to solve the Israel-Hamas and Ukraine wars “very fast” and repeated his debunked claims that the last election was stolen.
Image: Nikki Haley looks to have narrowly lost to Ron DeSantis for second place
Image: Mr DeSantis was second, but got fewer than half the votes of Donald Trump
Voting among Republican party members began at 7pm local time on Monday in hundreds of schools, community centres and other venues across Iowa.
Those who attended listened to speeches on behalf of each candidate before making their choice.
Mr Trump is currently forecast to secure 20 delegates in Iowa, according to NBC News, with Ron DeSantis on eight and Nikki Haley seven.
His current share of the overall vote is forecast at 51%, while the Florida governor is on 21% and Ms Haley 19%.
If verified, the result would comfortably be the largest-ever margin of victory in the state.
Image: The voting took place amid brutally cold temperatures. Pic: AP
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Trump: ‘It’s nasty out there’
A big win for Mr Trump would also strengthen his claim that he’s the only candidate able to mount a serious challenge to President Biden.
The president posted on X that his predecessor is “the clear front runner on the other side”.
“This election was always going to be you and me vs. extreme MAGA Republicans. It was true yesterday and it’ll be true tomorrow,” said Mr Biden.
Trump demolition is the ‘blow out’ he was aiming for
Donald Trump’s team told me a few days ago that any victory would be sufficient in Iowa, even if it was just a narrow win over his rivals.
Tonight has been anything but marginal, it is a demolition of the field, with all but one of the 99 counties in the state falling to him.
Trump won with over 50% of the vote, almost 30 points clear of his closest contender, Ron DeSantis.
Psychologically, to get over 50% is the “blow out” Trump said he was hoping for and historic in the caucuses.
You could sense his buoyancy in his victory speech, which felt in tone and content like he was pivoting away from the primary race and towards the election.
There was thanks for his wife, his children and even his rivals DeSantis and Haley, who he thanked for “for having a good time together out there”.
It felt like a pat on the head – and the absence of any derisory comments about the other Republican candidates or their campaigns felt like the surest sign yet he doesn’t take them seriously in this race any longer.
Despite his distant second place finish, Ron DeSantis struck an upbeat tone, telling supporters his campaign had successfully got its “ticket punched” by Iowa Republicans.
He promised a “restoration of sanity” and to restore the “sacred fire of liberty” established by America’s first presidents.
“As the next president of the United States, I will get the job done for this country,” he said.
Nikki Haley also addressed supporters in state capital Des Moines and claimed the race was now between herself and Mr Trump – despite her apparent third-place finish.
She said voters didn’t want a re-run of the last election and that she was the “last best hope of stopping the Trump-Biden nightmare”.
Meanwhile, Vivek Ramaswamy – a long shot for the nomination – withdrew after a poor showing in Iowa and is now backing Mr Trump.
Image: A Trump supporter in Des Moines, Iowa. Pic: AP
Image: Votes are counted at Fellows Elementary School in Ames, Iowa
Caucuses and primaries are held in different states to determine how many delegates each candidate has at the party’s national convention in July – when the ultimate winner is chosen.
New Hampshire hosts the next Republican vote on 23 January.
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