Donald Trump: How the former US president's cult of personality drove his victory in the Iowa caucus, and what could happen next with presidential election

Donald Trump won 51 per cent of the vote in the Iowa caucus.

Donald Trump is unstoppable.

His overwhelming victory in Monday’s Iowa caucus puts him a step closer to his prized position – the Republican candidate who will likely stand against president Joe Biden in November’s elections.

Moreover, it proves to Mr Trump and his doubters that he is still just as popular among the American people as he has always believed himself to be – at least with Republicans – despite his various misdemeanours.

Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump, acknowledges supporters during his caucus night event at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

The past year has seen him charged with 91 felonies in four separate cases, ranging from financial irregularities to paying hush money to a porn star. There is still the possibility that he could have to stand for president from behind bars – something he has made clear he is willing to do.

His failings are numerous. During his time as American’s leader, from 2017 to 2021, he became the only US president to be impeached twice, while refusing to accept the election result when he was voted out, resulting – arguably indirectly – in the storming of the Capitol building in Washington in January 2021.

Yet Mr Trump continues to thrive.

On Monday, he won 51 per cent of the vote in Iowa – the first state for Republican voters to make their White House candidate selection and well ahead of second place finisher Ron deSantis, on 21 per cent.

The caucus is always regarded as the first litmus test of the political mood, which can have an influence over voting in other states. Mr Trump’s win sets him up nicely for the remaining primaries and caucuses still to come.

It’s not like the Republican party doesn’t have other, equally right-wing, options.

Florida governor Mr deSantis did his best to win over the extremist vote by doing things he presumably thought Trump supporters would like, restricting LGBTQ+ rights and introducing stringent abortion laws. He even tried to mimic Mr Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, which is ubiquitous in certain corners of the US, on flags, baseball caps and the like, with his “Great American comeback”, which went badly from the start, with a technical hitch that delayed its launch.

Meanwhile, Nikki Haley looked like she could have won over the Right’s female voters as the first woman to govern in the Deep South. But she gained just 19 per cent of the vote in Iowa, despite a small victory in Johnson County ending Mr Trump’s chances of a 99-county sweep.

The reason is simple – rather than making a political choice, Mr Trump wins over voters’ favour because of a cult of personality. Many Americans are no longer Republican supporters; they are Donald Trump supporters.

His legal battles are far from being a thorn in his side, they have potentially been a benefit. His supporters have begun to regard him as somewhat of an underdog, a victim who has been targeted by the woke, liberal left they already despise.

The leadership of Mr Trump has, as a result, become somewhat deified. “I know that he is picked by God for this hour,” said Iowa caucus-goer Patricia Lage told the New York Times on Monday night. “There are things that he has done in the past, but we all have pasts.”