Trump said he won the Iowa caucus three times. Wrong. He lost to Ted Cruz in 2016

Amy Sherman
·5 min read
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Donald Trump

Statement: “This is the third time we’ve won, but this is the biggest win” in Iowa caucus.

After former President Donald Trump won the Iowa caucus by a landslide, he distorted his record on past Hawkeye State losses and wins.

Donald Trump
Donald Trump

"This is the third time we’ve won, but this is the biggest win," he told his supporters Monday after The Associated Press and several cable news channels called the caucuses for Trump.

Trump is wrong. He has won the Iowa caucus twice — and 2020 was not a competitive contest.

Trump lost to Ted Cruz in 2016

In 2016, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas finished first in the Iowa caucus with about 27.6% of the vote. Trump finished second with 24.3% and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida finished third with 23.1%. Headed into the caucus, Trump was ahead of Cruz in the polls.

Initially, Trump congratulated Cruz.

"We finished second," he said in a speech after the caucus. "And I want to tell you something, I’m just honored. I’m really honored. And I want to congratulate Ted (Cruz)."

But two days later, Trump tweeted several times to blame Cruz’s win on fraud.

In one tweet, Trump wrote, "Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified."

In another: "Cruz did not win Iowa, he stole it."

Trump’s claims followed reports that Cruz supporters spread false rumors that a third candidate, Dr. Ben Carson, had suspended his campaign amid voting.

Iowa Rep. Steve King, a national co-chairman of Cruz’s campaign, wrote on Twitter the evening of the caucus: "Looks like (Carson) is out. ... Skipping NH & SC is the equivalent of suspending. Too bad this information won’t get to all caucus goers." Carson, who would later serve as Housing and Urban Development secretary under Trump, called the comments "dirty tricks," and Cruz apologized, calling it a "mistake."

When Cruz was asked in 2016 about Trump’s comments in a New Hampshire news conference, Cruz said that Trump was someone who "finds it very hard to lose." When Trump loses, "he blames everybody else. It’s never Donald’s fault," Cruz said.

The Des Moines Register newspaper reported that former Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn called Trump’s claims of voter fraud "an absurd allegation."

A 2019 book, "American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump," by journalist Tim Alberta, reported that Trump urged Iowa Republican Party Chair Jeff Kaufmann to invalidate the 2016 caucuses’ results.

We emailed the Iowa Republican Party about Trump’s statement after the 2024 caucus and received no response.

Trump faced no serious primary opposition in 2020

In 2020, as the incumbent president, Trump faced no viable Republican challenger. Trump won 97.1% of the vote in the Iowa caucus while former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld won 1.3%.

Weld, who led Massachusetts in the 1990s, ran as the vice presidential candidate on Gary Johnson’s libertarian ticket in 2016. He launched his long-shot campaign against Trump in 2019, giving Republicans who were moderate or disliked Trump another option. Weld suspended his campaign in March 2020.

Fast forward to 2024: On Jan. 15, Trump won Iowa with about 51% followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with about 21% and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley with 19%.

These numbers show that Trump had his biggest win in 2020 — not in 2024. But 2020 was not a real contest for Trump.

PolitiFact's ruling

Trump said of the Jan. 15 Iowa caucus that "this is the third time we’ve won, but this is the biggest win."

Trump did not explain how he arrived at his statement. By sheer numbers, however, he’s incorrect.

Trump has twice won Iowa in the primaries — in 2020 and in 2024. In 2016, he finished second to Cruz.In 2020, Trump captured 97% of the vote against a nominal challenger to win. The Jan. 15 caucus awarded the former president about 51% of the vote.

We rate his statement False.

Our sources

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Trump lost Iowa caucus to Ted Cruz in 2016, didn't win three times