Trump passes major US election test with win in Iowa

DES MOINES - Donald Trump swept to victory on Monday in Iowa's caucuses -- the first vote in the US presidential race -- cementing his status as the presumptive Republican standard-bearer to challenge President Joe Biden in November's election.

The former president has led polling for more than a year, but the Iowa contest was seen as the clearest insight yet into whether he can convert his advantage into a stunning White House return.

In the end, major US networks took just half an hour from the opening of polls to project the winner, with Trump securing almost three quarters of the early vote.

There had been questions as to whether Trump’s legal problems -- he faces multiple civil and criminal trials in multiple jurisdictions -- may have dampened his support.

But the Iowa victory would suggest the 77-year-old, who left Washington under a cloud following the 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters, has succeeded in turning those prosecutions into a rallying cry to galvanize his followers.

The opening vote in the primary season, Iowa is considered crucial for winnowing the field and giving those left standing a springboard for the rest of the race.

As he takes his momentum into the New Hampshire in eight days, the former reality TV star has a commanding lead that his rivals have been unable to blunt.

With voting barely underway as Trump was declared the winner, it was not immediately clear how his closest rivals -- former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis were faring.

The margin of the ex-president's victory could be well in excess of the 12-point win his aides said would have made for a good night. 

Iowa accounts for less than two percent of the delegates awarded nationwide in the process to pick a party's candidates, so a big night by no means guarantees success in the rest of the nominating season.