Iowa Caucus 2024: Donald Trump calls for unity in victory speech

Kevin Breuninger
CNBC
Former US President Donald Trump speaks during the 2024 Iowa Republican caucuses at Horizon Events Center in West Des Moines, Iowa, US, on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Trump cruised to victory in the Iowa caucus, according to news outlets, warding off a late challenge from rivals DeSantis and Haley and cementing his status as the clear Republican frontrunner in the race. Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg
Former US President Donald Trump speaks during the 2024 Iowa Republican caucuses at Horizon Events Center in West Des Moines, Iowa, US, on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. Trump cruised to victory in the Iowa caucus, according to news outlets, warding off a late challenge from rivals DeSantis and Haley and cementing his status as the clear Republican frontrunner in the race. Photographer: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg Credit: Nathan Howard/Bloomberg

Trump called for unity, and even offered a hint of praise for his rivals, in a victory speech that seemed to regard the rest of the primary, and his selection as the Republican nominee, as a foregone conclusion.

It’s “time now, for everybody, our country, to come together,” Trump told a crowd of his supporters in Des Moines following NBC News’ projection that he would easily win the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses.

“I want to congratulate Ron and Nikki for having a good time together,” he said of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Amb. Nikki Haley. Trump noted that the second-place results were still yet to be determined.

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Trump then cycled through a generalized laundry list of policies and issues he planned to address if reelected to the White House, including a plan to “seal up” the U.S.-Mexico border and “rebuild our cities.”

He also once again gave oxygen to the false conspiracy claim that his 2020 election loss was rigged, as he vowed to “straighten out our elections” and advocate for the use of paper ballots.

He had no magnanimity to spare for President Joe Biden, his likely competitor in the 2024 general election, calling him the worst president to ever to hold the office.

Trump was joined on the Des Moines stage by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a one-time Republican primary rival who endorsed Trump a day earlier, along with some of his family members and other supporters.

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