Wow, that was fast. Trump snags early win in Iowa Caucuses, and some Republicans aren't happy.

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump was declared the victor in the Iowa Caucuses less than one hour after doors closed, enraging some fellow Republicans who cried foul on the early call.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – who came in second Monday night – went so far as to call the quick results “election interference” as most Iowans hadn’t yet had the chance to cast a vote.

“The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet,” DeSantis spokesperson Andrew Romeo said in a statement.

Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary under Trump, called it “highly irresponsible.”

The Associated Press declared Trump’s victory at 7:31 p.m. local time with only eight of 99 Iowa counties reporting their results. The AP wrote that it analyzed early returns and the results of an AP survey of voters who planned to caucus on Monday night, both of which showed an “insurmountable lead” for the former president.

Even Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X: “Well, that was fast. Thank you Iowa.”

Trump, meanwhile, said he was “greatly honored” by the early call.

“It really is an honor that, minutes after, they’ve announced I’ve won – against very credible competition – great competition, actually,” he told Fox News Digital.

DeSantis took second place in the caucuses, 2 percentage points ahead of former South Carolina Gov. Haley and well behind Trump. The race for second place between DeSantis and Haley has been tight. The stakes were high for both candidates Monday night, as their path to victory may be defined by their showing in the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Trump is still the favorite to win the nomination by far – nearly 50 percentage points ahead of his nearest competitors as of Monday evening. He has maintained his frontrunner status despite four criminal cases against him related to his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election; for attempting to overturn the results in Georgia; for allegedly mishandling sensitive government records; and for allegedly falsifying business records.

Early on, DeSantis was considered the most likely contender to take on the former president by harnessing many of the same culture war issues that appeal to Trump’s base but promising a new start for voters who were tired of Trump’s bombastic style.

However, Haley began to gain momentum during the GOP presidential debates, which Trump skipped in favor of counterprogramming. She has campaigned as a more moderate alternative and a seasoned diplomatic voice for the United States on the international stage.

But the path to the presidency for either DeSantis or Haley is narrow, given Trump’s clear popularity among the Republican grassroots. As campaign resources dwindled, DeSantis reorganized his campaign around winning Iowa.

Even with a second-place showing in the Midwest state, there's potential for trouble ahead in the New Hampshire primary next week, where Haley is polling significantly higher than the Florida governor – but still well behind Trump.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The early call for Trump in Iowa has some Republicans crying foul