Thanks for joining us for the 2024 Republican Iowa caucus, and our efforts to sift through the competing political narratives after Donald Trump's commanding victory yesterday. We will do it again soon, as the New Hampshire primary is only next Tuesday.

The Iowa win will undoubtedly give a boost to the former president in his effort to obtain the Republican nomination. Trump received more than 50% of the vote, muting his two closest rivals, and causing two other competitors to drop out of the race.

Rivals campaign with more contests to come

Nikki Haley, who served as Trump's UN ambassador, came into a close third behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. She appears to be her old boss's closest challenger in New Hampshire, and went directly from Iowa to that state to speak to supporters. She has her work cut out for her, as Trump enjoys a sizable lead.

DeSantis, meanwhile, skipped the immediate visit to New Hampshire and travelled to South Carolina - where Haley served as governor. It was a clear shot across the bow for a rival he hopes to boot from the race, and it appears to be part of his larger strategy to energise conservative and evangelical voters.

Where was Trump in all this?

After relishing his Iowa win yesterday, the former president spent today in a Manhattan courtroom. Trump faces a defamation damages case brought by writer E Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her decades ago.

Once a jury was picked, Trump skipped opening statements to head for his own rally in New Hampshire. There's reportedly a long line of supporters already at the venue, braving a cold rain and icy conditions to see their candidate.

We'll find out next week whether Tump's rivals can find some method, beyond the frigid weather, to dampen his supporters' spirits.

It appears ABC News has cancelled its New Hampshire presidential debate, perhaps because it could not get the Republican candidates to confirm they would show up.

“Our intent was to host a debate coming out of the Iowa caucuses, but we always knew that would be contingent on the candidates and the outcome of the race," ABC News and its local state affiliate said in a statement. "As a result, while our robust election coverage will continue, ABC News and WMUR-TV will not be moving forward with Thursday’s Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire.”

Donald Trump has yet to appear at a debate, and Nikki Haley said today that she would only return to the debate stage if the former president joined her on it.

Ron DeSantis has said he was prepared to attend, but watching the Florida governor debate two empty podiums might not be informative or exciting.

It's been a whistle-stop journey for the former president. Hours after his landslide win in the Iowa caucuses, his motorcade swept into New York for a court appearance.

Donald Trump is being sued for defamation by E Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her decades ago, and today was jury selection day.

With a jury picked, the former president decided to skip opening statements to return to the campaign trail. He's now on his way to the the city of Atkinson in southern New Hampshire for a rally. His supporters appear to be eagerly awaiting his arrival, as they are standing in long lines in snow and freezing rain.

Trump's rally is scheduled for 1700 EST (220GMT).

Image source, Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz

Snow hasn't hindered these Donald Trump supporters in Atkinson, New Hampshire, from waiting in line for the campaign rally the former president is planning to hold ahead of the next primary election. He'll be heading there from court in Manhattan.

Image source, Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz

Image source, Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz

Image source, Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz

Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from Iowa

The circus has left Iowa, next stop New Hampshire! (Trump will get there once he finishes with court in Manhattan.)

It’s a slightly different process in New Hampshire, because voters will cast their ballots privately on election day - 23 January.

While Iowa gets all the early attention, it’s just one small rural state and many argue it does not represent the US electorate. Remember, only 120,000 votes were cast there last night, and the US is home to 332 million people.

Iowa has also failed to serve as a perfect predictor of who earns the nomination or wins the presidency in past. (Texas Senator Ted Cruz won the Iowa Caucus in 2016.)

But no one in history has won Iowa with a margin as large as Trump's, and his powerful finish will give him unprecedented momentum ahead of the next contests.

New Hampshire is considered more moderate than Iowa, and anti-Trump Republicans see it as the best chance of slowing Trump down. The former president still enjoys a significant lead there, but the gap between him and Nikki Haley has tightened.

The former UN ambassador wants this to be a two-person race, and she is polling well in New Hampshire. But her third-place finish in Iowa did not establish her as the clear Trump alternative.

DeSantis, meanwhile, has bought himself more time with his second place finish, but he put all his eggs in Iowa’s basket. He appears to see Haley as his main challenger - ignoring Trump's massive shadow.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court in Manhattan

Image source, Reuters

Owing to the defendant - Donald Trump - Judge Lewis Kaplan had a few specific questions about the political bias of potential jurors in the former president's defamation damages trial.

The questions included: Have you contributed to politcal campaigns? Did you ever attend a Trump rally? Are you a member of a political party? Have you voted?

At one point, the judge asked the possible jurors if they believed the QAnon conspiracy theory or belonged to right-wing militia groups.

No one said, yes, but two possible jurors did reveal they believed the 2020 election was stolen from the former president.

Another woman said she had volunteered for a Joe Biden campaign phone bank in 2020.

Eventually, the final jury was picked.

Just before 14:00 (19:00 GMT), Judge Kaplan called out the numbers of nine jurors - who will all remain anonymous. The pair who believed in Trump's election conspiracy did not make the cut.

The case, which began today, involves the writer E. Jean Carroll and remarks Trump made about her from the White House in 2019.

Opening arguments are starting up, although Trump is expected at a New Hampshire campaign event later this evening.

Over to another of Trump's court cases for a moment - the civil fraud trial that wrapped up earlier this month in New York City.

The New York Court of Appeals dismissed his request to remove a gag order that had been placed upon him by the judge in that case.

The court ruled that there was no "substantial constitutional question" that was "directly involved" in Trump's appeal.

Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing Trump's civil trial, had put a gag order in place banning Trump and his lawyers from making public statements about courtroom staff. That came after Trump posted disparaging remarks online about the judge's employees.

Though another judge raised freedom of speech concerns and temporarily paused the order, the gag order was reinstated in November.

Just a reminder on what Trump's civil fraud trial is about: Trump and his two adult sons have already been found liable of massively inflating the value of their properties by hundreds of millions of dollars to obtain favourable loans.

The judge is yet to rule on any penalties they must pay, but he said he will do so by the end of this month.

Trump and his sons deny any wrongdoing.

Image source, EPA

Let's hear more on Donald Trump's civil defamation damages trial from our US partners at CBS News, who are also reporting from the courthouse in New York.

When the judge said that E Jean Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her, the leading Republican presidential candidate shook his head no.

Trump again shook his head when the damages he previously paid for defaming Carroll were mentioned. He looked agitated and conferred with his lawyers.

The jury for this trial will be anonymous and driven in and out of the court underground from undisclosed pickup locations. The judge also suggested they use fake names when talking to each other. This is a set up usually used in cartel cases.

Krystyna Gajda
Live reporter

New Hampshire is Nikki Haley's "best shot to stay in the game", says Mo Elleithee, a US political campaign strategist from Georgetown University.

But he has a cautionary note. "History is full of examples of candidates who did well in New Hampshire and that's as far as they went," he tells me.

"When you look at the states after New Hampshire - even if she wins it, they look more like Iowa than New Hampshire."

And that includes South Carolina, where Haley was governor.

"Even though she was a governor, the states have an evangelical Christian bent, and would favour Donald Trump. Trump does best with the most conservative voters and Haley does best with moderate and centre right voters."

Iowa was just the first battle in the candidates' months-long campaign for the Republican nomination, ahead of the election on 5 November. Here are the key dates:

Image source, .

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from Concord

Republican state Senator Bill Gannon and state Representative Mike Moffett are at the Red Arrow diner today to support Nikki Haley.

“It’s a two-person race,” Gannon says, arguing Trump should show up to debate her in the state. So far, the former president has not attended any Republican debates.

Gannon says Trump has a “tight, core base” in New Hampshire - but he's not discouraged by Haley’s third place in Iowa.

“She’s someone my kids could look up to,” Gannon says. “She’s the whole package. She has a vision for the future.”

Image source, Reuters

The runner-up in Iowa's caucus, Ron DeSantis, has confirmed he will attend the presidential debate in New Hampshire this week.

Neither of his competitors, Donald Trump nor Nikki Haley, have said they will join him on that stage. Haley has said her attendance rests on Trump's decision.

"The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it," she posted on social media earlier today.

So far, Trump has not attended a debate with his fellow candidates.

"I won’t snub New Hampshire voters like both Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, and plan to honor my commitments," DeSantis posted on social media.

"I look forward to debating two empty podiums in the Granite State this week," he added

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from court in Manhattan

I’ve just popped out of an overflow room at the Manhattan courthouse, where no electronics are allowed. We’re in the thick of jury selection in writer E Jean Carroll's defamation damages case against Donald Trump.

One by one, dozens of jurors entered the courtroom - surrounding Trump and Carroll - as they took their seats in the jury box and filled up the audience benches. Some of them appeared to sneak glances at the defence table where the former president is sitting.

Trump's presence in the case led to some unusual questions to determine whether potential jurors could judge the case impartially.

Nearly all in the jury pool said they were registered voters and had voted in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

At one point, District Judge Lewis Kaplan asked if any potential jurors believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump - two said yes.

He also asked if any believed the QAnon conspiracy theory or supported the MeToo movement.

Trump twisted and turned in his chair to get a look at jurors as they each responded to questions from the judge.

Carroll mostly looked straight ahead at the judge, allowing Trump only a view of her back.

Announcing his decision to pull out of the presidential race, Asa Hutchinson says he stands by his campaign - which he said "sounded the warning" to the Republican Party about the risks in 2024 and also "presented hope for our country's future".

In his campaign Hutchinson had positioned himself as the “non-Trump" candidate, saying the former president bore "significant responsibility" for the attack on the US Capitol in January 2021, and was unfit to sit as president again.

But, as he admits his statement today, his message “did not sell”.

Voters did not appear enthused by his frequent challenges of Trump and his insistence that the party needed to move on from the former president.

Image source, Reuters

Republican presidential hopeful Asa Hutchinson has dropped out of the race after failing to gain enough support, according to Reuters.

The former Arkansas governor received just 191 votes of 110,000 cast in the Iowa caucus last night.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from New Hampshire

The former president has a busy travel schedule after his big win in Iowa.

He enjoyed a record-breaking victory in the Midwest yesterday, but Trump is now sitting in a Manhattan courtroom in his civil defamation damages trial.

He is being sued by E Jean Carroll, who has accused him of raping her decades ago, for statements he made about her in 2019.

For now, he's sitting behind a defence table with his lawyers, but he will soon be back on the campaign trail speaking to voters.

His New Hampshire supporters are eagerly anticipating his arrival this evening.

Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in the southern city of Atkinson at 17:00 EST (22:00 GMT).

Kayla Epstein
Senior reporter in New York City

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump walked into the Manhattan courtroom shortly after 9.45am, wearing his signature red tie, and took a seat at the defence table.

He sat between his lawyers, and appeared to stare intently at E Jean Carroll, who kept her back to him.

Carroll, wearing a white blazer, was three rows in front of him. She spent most of the early part of the hearing with her back to Trump, but briefly turned in her seat as his lawyers haggled with the judge.

Image source, Reuters

Around 110,000 people voted in the Iowa caucuses last night, according to data, external from the Republican Party of Iowa.

It's a steep decline from previous years. In 2016, 187,000 ballots were cast, while 122,000 and 119,000 voted in 2012 and 2008 respectively - all records at the time. The last caucus to have a lower turnout figure was in 2000.

Temperatures dropped to a frigid -24C in Iowa's capital, Des Moines, yesterday, which likely affected the number of people heading to the polls. It also appeared clear that Donald Trump would walk away with a victory - another item that may have affected enthusiasm.

Despite this, Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann struck a defiant tone ahead of the result.

"Iowans coming out en masse demonstrates our people's resilience and determination, as well as their confidence in the most transparent democratic process in the country," he said.

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump’s motorcade has reportedly arrived at the courthouse in Manhattan, New York City, for jury selection in his civil defamation damages trial, according to US media.

Trump is being sued for defamation by E Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her decades ago, for remarks he made about her in 2019. More on the trial here.

Earlier today, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform that he would attend the trial and still be in New Hampshire tonight for his first campaign event there.

Image source, Reuters

We've already heard from Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who said Europe should become "more self-reliant" if Trump is to get in again.

"If 2024 brings us 'America first' again, it will be more than ever Europe on its own," De Croo told the European Parliament on Tuesday.

Now Lord Kim Darroch, former British Ambassador to the US, has also spoken about Trump's "America first" stance. "This is not an easy man to deal with and, in the end, it is all about American national interests - he is not a great believer in international alliances or friendships," Darroch tells the BBC's World At One programme.

Meanwhile, Bronwen Maddox, head of the UK's Chatham House think tank, says Trump's pledge to "straighten out the world" - which he said after his Iowa win - will involve the US removing itself from international conflicts .

This is likely to involve ending arms aid to Ukraine and reconsidering the US's membership to the Nato alliance, she says.