Washington/IBNS/UNI: Former US President Donald Trump has convincingly won the Iowa caucuses in the first Republican contest of the US President elections which will be held in November this year, media reports said.

US major networks have reportedly taken only half-an-hour to project the winner.

Results from the Iowa Republican Party showed that Trump had received 51 percent of the votes, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came in second with 21% of the vote, and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley trailed in third with 19% of the vote.

Though Trump faces several multiple civil and criminal trials, the former US President has cemented his place as a Republican candidate to challenge incumbent Joe Biden with the win.

Iowa residents flocked to around 1,600 locations to cast their votes braving the winter storm and sub-zero temperature.

After clinching the win, Trump promised his supporters in Iowa that his administration will rebuild and make safe American cities, and for this purpose, police officers will receive immunity to be able to fight record crime.

"We are going to rebuild our cities, we are going to make them safe, and we are going to give our police officers immunity, so every time they do something, they don't get sued, and we can end crime in our cities," Trump said on Monday night after winning the Iowa caucus vote.

More specifically, Trump pledged to rebuild the US capital, Washington, including by introducing "unbelievably" harsh penalties for those who shoot people on the streets and engage in other crimes.

Iowa will send 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled for July 15–18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

A total of 2,500 people will vote at the convention. To win the Republican Party presidential nomination, a candidate needs to secure the votes of 1,215 delegates.