Donald Trump earned the widely-expected victory over former UN envoy Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. (Photo by AP)

Donald Trump has won big in the Iowa caucuses, cementing his place as the clear frontrunner for this year’s Republican presidential nomination.

Winning at least 20 out of 40 delegates, Trump beat Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who finished second place, taking eight over former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who received seven, as they participated to become evident alternatives to Trump.

THANK YOU IOWA, I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, as the win takes him a step closer to securing a third consecutive nomination for the presidency.

According to Edison Research, out of 95 percent of the expected vote tallied, Trump had 51 percent, while DeSantis was at 21 percent and Haley 19 percent.

Before Trump, the largest margin of victory for an Iowa Republican caucus had been 12.8 percentage points for Bob Dole in 1988.

Marking the official start to the presidential nominating process, the quadrennial electoral event, the Iowa caucus is a designated contest for the Democratic and Republican parties in the US state of Iowa.

Meanwhile, Vivek Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old political newbie, dropped out of the contest after securing only 8 percent of the votes and instead endorsed Trump in an address to supporters.

According to a study, in the largely rural Midwestern state, most caucusgoers refused to accept Biden’s 2020 election victory and instead opted for Trump, after they accepted the lies Trump had made.

More than 60% said Trump would still be fit to serve as president even if convicted of a crime.

He won a majority among men and women; among those who consider themselves very conservative, somewhat conservative, and independent; among those who graduated college and those who did not, according to an Edison entrance poll.

We need something different than what we’re doing now. It’s not working. I was making more money than I ever have, and now I’m broker than I’ve ever been, David Brunell, a 32-year-old Trump supporter, told Al Jazeera before the caucuses.

Trump’s resounding triumph underscores his ongoing control over the Republican Party, and his popularity among voters despite the mounting legal challenges he confronts, which include four criminal indictments.

The Iowa caucus results demonstrate the strength of Trump’s grip on the Republican Party, said Jimmy Centers, an Iowa-based Republican strategist. Absent a quick consolidation of the field, Trump appears to be on a fast track to the nomination.

He is also anticipated to make an appearance in a New York court, where a jury will deliberate on whether he should be liable for additional compensation to a writer who previously obtained a $5 million jury verdict against him for charges of sexual assault and defamation.

On January 6, 2021, Trump directed the attack on the US Capitol through a mob of supporters and tried to overturn the 2020 elections, after he alleged fraud in the 2020 elections.

He currently faces 91 criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election.