2024 Elections

Donald Trump's victory Monday in the Iowa caucuses surprised no one, confirming his grip on the Republican Party and offering clues about the campaign ahead.

Here are five takeaways from the first contest of the 2024 election race, where Trump supporters defied bitter cold to deliver a victory for the ex-president, who swept aside challengers Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

Mere hours after Donald Trump's Monday night projected Iowa Caucus win, CNN hosts Kaitlan Collins and Abby Phillips agreed that the former president's tone, delivery and "attitude" during his victory speech were in stark contrast to many of his previous appearances.

"It shows how confident he feels coming off of this win," Collins said. "I haven't heard Donald Trump give a speech like that in probably years, and I've been to a lot of Donald Trump speeches. He hasn't called Ron DeSantis 'Ron' since Ron DeSantis entered the presidential race. He's only called him by nicknames and called him disloyal. To see him give that speech speaks to how he feels after this victory tonight. But I also think this is the speech that he's giving after he has not had any wins in several years.

Politico reports that election workers across the country are bracing for a backlash from supporters of former President Donald Trump during the 2024 election.

The anxiety was on full display at a recent meeting hosted by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, where election workers feared a replay of the 2020 race where they faced an unprecedented wave of violent threats.

Donald Trump's primary win in Iowa reminds a conservative commentator of the movie "Groundhog Day."

The state's first-in-the-nation caucus was called for Trump before many Iowans had a chance to vote, and the speed and decisiveness of his win shows the former president will almost certainly waltz to the Republican nomination despite two impeachments, four indictments on 91 felony charges and being found liable for fraud and sexual abuse, wrote The Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis.

Former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is projected to finish just behind Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in the Iowa Caucus, Fox News reported, and ABC News confirmed.

The result comes despite Haley being considerably outspent by the DeSantis campaign.

After finishing fourth place in the Iowa caucuses, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his campaign.

Ramaswamy addressed his supporters following Monday's loss.

MSNBC host Joy Reid blasted Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) during the network's Iowa Caucus coverage Monday.

While the first-place winner was already declared to be Donald Trump, the second place remained too close to call as the night unfolded. Split between DeSantis and former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), political analysts described what the finish meant for both. But it was Reid who explained that the one thing DeSantis did in 2024 was show the country who he was — and they weren't fans.

Some news: The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has fired its executive director, Steven Frid, who held the job for less than a year. Frid was the agency’s third executive director in as many years. The agency has also been without a permanent general counsel for nearly two years without even an interim counsel for a year — the temporary replacement left for a job at the Federal Emergency Management Agency last February.

The EAC has confirmed Frid’s departure. Sources with direct knowledge of the decision confirm he was fired.

Trump's win may spell doom for the remaining contenders trying to become the GOP presidential nominee.

According to the Wall Street Journal's Catherine Lucky, with such an uncontested victory it might be time for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to gracefully head for the exits.