Trump won convincingly in Iowa, worries in Germany

2024-01-17 11:15:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Trump won convincingly in Iowa, worries in Germany

Donald Trump

In the first election for the presidential candidate of the Republican Party, Donald Trump scored a clear and surprisingly quick victory. Major television stations in the US announced the former president as the winner just 30 minutes after voting began.

In second place, but with far fewer votes than Donald Trump (51 percent), is Ron DeSantis (21.2 percent), the governor of the federal state of Florida. Former US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley (19.1 percent) is in third place. In fourth place was entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy with 0.7 percent of the vote. Immediately after the announcement of the results, he announced that he withdrew from the candidacy and supported Donald Trump.

Trump's victory was expected. The 77-year-old former president convincingly led in public opinion polls. Haley had a poor start to the campaign a few months ago, but her poll results have improved over time. And DeSantis, who was initially considered Trump's most likely opponent, began to lose popularity in recent months. Both of them do not give up their candidacy.

Trump: "We want unity"

Donald Trump Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP/picture alliance
Trump, who has repeatedly announced retaliation against his political opponents in recent months, spoke of unity in his speech Monday night (Jan. 15) after the victory. We want unity, Republican or Democrat.

In front of hundreds of cheering supporters in the Iowa capital, Des Moines, he accused President Joe Biden of "totally destroying our country." "Three years ago we were a great nation and today people are laughing at us," Trump said.

His supporters hailed the victory in Iowa as "incredible" and "historic." The well-known Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, wrote on the social network "X" that the primary elections of the party are "practically over". Republican Elise Stefanik called on other candidates to withdraw so the party could unite behind Trump. She wrote in "X" that the other candidates "have no chance of victory".

The beginning of the election year

In the United States of America, the base of the party chooses its candidate for the presidential elections. Voting is complex and varies from one federal state to another. The Iowa Republican primary marked the beginning of the US election year. Presidential elections are held on November 5.

Iowa, admittedly, doesn't make much sense in terms of voter turnout, but anyone who does well in this small federal state can count on a "favorable atmosphere" in the next election.

What could still hinder Trump going forward are his legal troubles. Although his supporters consider the court proceedings against their candidate to be politically motivated, the outcome of the proceedings is still uncertain. It is possible that Trump will be sentenced even before the presidential elections. A lot can happen in the next ten months.

In the Democratic Party, it is thought that their candidate has already been practically determined. Joe Biden wants to run for the White House again. This 81-year-old has no serious competition in his party.

Concern in Germany

After this success of Donald Trump in the candidate elections, the German opposition parties of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) are putting pressure on the German government to prepare for a new term of Trump. "The federal government can no longer ignore domestic political developments in the United States. The US as a partner is very important to us," the party's foreign policy expert Jürgen Hardt told dpa news agency ( CDU).

According to him, the primary election in Iowa shows the following: "40 percent did not vote for Trump." However, it is time to prepare for the possibility of Trump becoming president."

Even the German Chamber of Industry, DUI, warns that Trump's victory in the presidential elections could have serious consequences for Germany. The United States could then become economically isolated again, commented DUI President Siegfried Russwurm.

He added that Germany must prepare for all scenarios: "This means: it is not enough to worry." Europe must prepare for a world in which we Europeans will be left more alone and will be able to rely less on the transatlantic security partnership than in the last 75 years"./ DW