Madeline Halpert
Reporting from Concord

It’s a two-person race between Nikki Haley and Donald Trump, Haley and her supporters are insisting today.

Ron DeSantis is polling in the single digits in New Hampshire, Haley says, adding she’ll only show up at the next Republican debate in the state if Trump participates.

“When he says he’s going to do it, I’ll be there,” she says.

“It’s about the difference between Trump and me,” adds the 51-year-old. “We don’t want two 80-year-olds to be our options. Let’s move forward with a new generational leader.“

The next Republican debate is on Thursday - hosted by ABC News in Manchester, New Hampshire. Trump has not been attending the debates - for last week's one in Iowa, he held a Fox News town hall event at the same time.

Kayla Epstein
Senior reporter in New York

Donald Trump’s first stop after a resounding victory in Iowa might actually be Manhattan, not New Hampshire.

US media reports he may attend jury selection today in his defamation damages trial in New York City. He is being sued by writer E Jean Carroll - she accused the former president of sexually assaulting her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s and then defaming her in 2019 as he sought to discount her claims.

The purpose of today’s trial is to establish the damages Trump must pay for defaming Carroll in 2019. She is seeking $10m, potentially adding to the millions in penalties he faces in other cases.

Asked by reporters previously if he was going to attend, Trump said: “You’re gonna see.” He may also testify later in the trial.

Trump has used the multiple legal cases against him - which he has referred to as a “witch hunt” to rally his base around him.

Trump was already found liable of sexually abusing Carroll in a different trial last year, but a jury did not find him liable for rape. The jury awarded her $5m, which Trump is appealing. I’ll be at court today to report from inside.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from Concord

Nikki Haley is already out and about New Hampshire this morning, greeting voters at the famous Red Arrow diner in Concord.

“We’ve got an hour of sleep and we’re ready to go," she says, after arriving at about 08.00 local time.

“All eyes are on us now,” she tells voters. “Everyone’s looking at New Hampshire.”

Image source, Getty Images

Florida congressman Mike Waltz has been speaking to CNN this morning, saying people in Florida - where DeSantis is governor - do not understand why he chose to run now, rather than wait until the next race in 2028.

“Governor DeSantis has been a fantastic governor," says Waltz. "I don’t think we would have got through Covid the way Florida did without his leadership."

But Waltz - who is backing Donald Trump for the presidential bid - adds: "What I’m hearing from folks on the ground they just don't don’t understand why he [DeSantis] didn’t wait.

"He’s a young guy that’s very bright, it’s going to be an open presidential seat in 2028.

"A lot of people are shaking their heads."

He adds that Trump was victorious in the Iowa caucuses because he “cast a vision going forward".

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from Concord, New Hampshire

Inside The Works Café in Concord some voters are up early after a late night of watching the caucuses.

One of them is 75-year-old Richard Terrell, a supporter of Donald Trump. “It was great. I was up all night watching,” he says.

No one is a fan of Trump’s personality, Terrell claims, but says the former president has “proved himself” with his time in office.

Terrell’s friend and breakfast mate, George Kontos, disagrees. An independent who leans Democrat, Kontos says he and Terrell eat together nearly every day at 5:30 am - and bicker often about politics.

“We have breakfast together every day, but we don’t like each other,” Terrell jokes.

Kontos, who dislikes all the top Republican presidential hopefuls, notes Nikki Haley in particular had a disappointing performance.

“She said it was a two-person race, but then she came in third place,” he says.

Image source, Reuters

Don't forget you can listen to our latest episode of Americast, which went up this morning.

Speaking to the BBC's North America editor Sarah Smith, Donald Trump's son Eric talked up his father's chances in the presidential race.

Eric said the world was in a "very, very, very dangerous spot" and that "people want peace and prosperity and strength back" - which he said was missing during the Biden presidency.

Asked how quickly he felt his dad could wrap up the Republican nomination, Eric said: "It's going to come fairly quickly because I'm certain it will be done by Super Tuesday."

Super Tuesday - which this year will happen on 5 March - is the date on which voters in 16 US states will pick their preferred Republican candidate for the presidential battle.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from Concord, New Hampshire

It’s a cold, snowy and quiet early morning here in New Hampshire after a hectic night, but all that will change soon.

Nikki Haley has reportedly already made her way to the state, where she, Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump will all host events in different locations across the state.

Haley has focused most of her campaign efforts on New Hampshire, but after coming in third last night, some say her momentum may be slipping.

We’ll keep you updated today on how the vibes are shifting here in the Granite State.

Image source, Reuters

It's the morning after the night before on the US east coast - where dawn will shortly break. But there's no let-up in the three Republican candidates' schedules and who'll be keen to take full advantage of the momentum of last night's vote. Here's what they're up to today:

Donald Trump has an evening rally in New Hampshire, which is the next state to vote in the Republican race. Later on Tuesday he may attend the start of a civil trial in New York where a jury will decide how much he should pay defamed fashion journalist E Jean Carroll who accused him of rape. A jury already found he sexually assaulted and defamed the writer, but he has called the allegations “totally false”.

Ron DeSantis is taking a detour south before heading to New Hampshire. He is expected at an event in South Carolina this morning, then will head north for an event in the evening. DeSantis looks to be trying to put pressure on Haley who is beating him in early polling in both New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Nikki Haley is already in New Hampshire, boarding her plane after the Iowa results came in last night. Her pre-polling numbers are far stronger there than in Iowa, so no doubt she will be hitting the ground running today to promote her campaign for "a new generation" of Republican leadership.

Image source, Reuters

There are eight days until the next vote on the Republican presidential candidate.

The trio of frontrunners - Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley - will face their next vote in New Hampshire.

Vivek Ramaswamy, the fourth-runner in Iowa won't be standing for the vote. He withdrew after the results from Iowa became clear.

Instead of a caucus like we've just seen in Iowa, New Hampshire goes by a primaries process.

Unlike a caucus, where voters vote at a meeting held in set locations, primary voters head to one of a number of polling booths and vote privately at any time.

Speaking to his supporters in Iowa after his projected win, Donald Trump expressed his hope that Americans could come together to "straighten out the world".

And the world, for its part, is watching the US election particularly closely.

The US is currently indirectly involved in two hot wars, in Ukraine and Gaza. Meanwhile, US-China relations have deteriorated and tensions in the Asia Pacific region have risen.

Closer to home, Central American nations are under the spotlight as a growing number of migrants are trying to get to the US. And this week there were US-led air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

There is almost no area of the world where American leadership doesn't matter, as our special correspondent Katty Kay recently put it.

The prospect of Republican Donald Trump returning to office, with his America First foreign policy agenda, adds more uncertainty to an already tumultuous picture, Katty wrote.

Some countries look forward a potential Trump return. But many of America's allies are more fearful about the possible comeback of an unorthodox president they found hard to deal with the first time around.

• Donald Trump has scored a record win in the Iowa caucuses, supercharging his bid for the Republican nomination
• In his victory speech, Trump pledged to "straighten up” global problems
• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis scraped a distant second place, followed in close third by Nikki Haley, the former UN ambassador
• Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy quit the race and endorsed Trump having failed to drum up support
• Iowa was just the first of many battles in the candidates’ quest for the party nomination
• The winner will face a Democrat – likely Joe Biden – in November’s presidential election
• Next up: the New Hampshire primary

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Mary Weston, chair of the Young Republicans of Iowa, has been speaking to our colleagues on the BBC World Service's Newsday programme about what attracts voters - including herself - to Donald Trump.

"He speaks very well when he gets up on stage. I got to hear him speak this summer in Washington and tonight. Both times, you just find yourself in awe of how he carries himself," she says.

Weston praises the former president for "stand[ing] up for what he believes in... He's not afraid to be who he wants to be and that's a very attractive quality for a party right now".

Image source, Reuters

To recap what we heard from the former president earlier:

• Donald Trump hailed a "very special night" after his landslide win in the Iowa caucuses - which saw Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley beaten to a distant second and third
• He also urged Americans to come together to "straighten out the world". Our correspondent Anthony Zurcher remarked that he seemed to want to unite Republicans and Democrats alike
• Among the promises he made if he won a second term in the White House, he touted the mantra "drill baby drill" - vowing to ramp up domestic energy production
• He also said he would "seal up the border" in the face of an "invasion"

Republicans in Iowa were the first to cast their votes in support of a presidential candidate to take on Democratic President Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 election.

Most states run primary contests to nominate a presidential candidate but caucuses have a different process.

Caucuses require party members to attend a location, in person, at a specific time. At schools, community centres and churches across the state, representatives for the candidates make speeches before those present cast their votes by writing down a name.

Most states have moved away from caucuses in favour of primaries, but the Iowa Republican Party - along with those in Nevada, Idaho, Missouri, North Dakota, Hawaii, Wyoming and Kentucky - have all stuck to the system.

The actual prize Republicans are fighting for in Iowa is minimal. Candidates will split a measly 40 delegates, a little more than 1% of the total number in play at the Republican National Convention in July.

But a win for any candidate in Iowa can help energise their campaign at a crucial early stage and potentially propel them to victory in the primaries.

It also marks the first time the country can see how a candidate fares in an actual election, and can generate significant attention in the media.

Read more: What you need to know about the Republican vote

Image source, Reuters

Marc Lotter, former director of communications for Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2020, spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme ahead of the outcome of the Iowa caucuses.

While the months-long campaign for the Republican nomination has just begun, Lotter insists there “hasn’t been a race for quite a bit here".

“This thing is over,” he says, adding that Trump’s rivals “just haven’t realised it yet. We had the same thing going on in 2016 with Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio….both endorsed the [former] president and are leading the Make America Great Again movement.”

Lotter suggests we’ll soon see Ron De Santis and Nikki Haley “quickly fall in line”.

A chance to relive Trump's landslide win over his Republican rivals - in less than a minute-and-a-half.

Holly Honderich
Reporting from Des Moines, Iowa

Image source, Emmalee Day

Emmalee Day and her husband John braved the cold to attend a caucus at Centennial High School in Ankeny, 20 minutes north of Des Moines.

When I met Emmalee and John last week at a Nikki Haley event, they had not yet made up their minds. Both told me they were ready to move on from Trump, but the couple hadn't decided who the best challenger would be.

"I like Trump's policies but I feel like he has too much baggage," John said. "I don’t love having to defend what he says."

In the end, John went for Ron DeSantis while Emmalee caucused for Nikki Haley. Trump came out on top, but Haley and DeSantis were only about 10 votes behind him.

It's certainly a win for the former president, but Emmalee predicted more caucus voters backed a non-Trump candidate than Trump himself.

"The no-Trump votes are split so the Trump votes will probably win out because of it," she said.

The Americast team have just published a new podcast episode from inside Trump HQ at Des Moines, Iowa.

Listen to hear Justin Webb, Sarah Smith, Marianna Spring, and Anthony Zurcher's immediate reaction to the historic win, joined by polling guru Frank Luntz, and Eric Trump, the son of the former president who won big tonight.

Listen to the latest episode here.

A landslide Trump victory at the Iowa caucus is exactly what Team Biden was hoping for, says Mo Elleithee, a US political campaign strategist from Georgetown University.

"Maybe the only people in the country who are more pleased than Donald Trump with tonight's results are in the White House currently," Elleithee told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The Biden campaign wants to draw contrasts against Donald Trump because "it gives them the opportunity to make their case about democracy being on the ballot," he says.

While Donald Trump may be celebrating in Des Moines today, tomorrow he will be in a courtroom in New York awaiting a jury verdict on a civil case against him.

"That is something the Biden campaign has got to be loving," Elleithee says.