Caucus in Iowa – Trump did not come:

ATLANTIC, IOWA (Dagbladet): Violent storms send snow and bitter cold across the empty parking lot outside the Cass Community Center in the small town of Atlantic, Iowa.

Former President Donald Trump was supposed to arrive here on Saturday. However, due to extreme cold, wind and snow, both events were cancelled.

-I'm a little disappointed. But I understand that consideration for people's safety must come first. You can't do anything about the weather, Adam Kralik tells Dagbladet.

Everyone cancels

He's standing with his beard full of ice in his driveway nearby and was already intending to go to the rally to see Trump live. But in the assembly hall, there are only a few workers packing equipment that should have been used during the event for the former president.

– I like what he did when he was president in the past, and I hope he is president now. “I hope he can turn things around again and make America great again,” Kralik says.

Eliminates

Other Republican presidential candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, were forced to cancel events in Iowa. Instead, many events have gone digital.

Trump remains the favorite to win the nomination battle in Iowa on Monday.

– It is very unlikely, but if he does not become the Republican Party's presidential nominee, I will vote for whoever gets it. “I vote Republican,” Kralik asserts.

– Tell the truth

Iowa is first in the nominating race and will hold its caucus on Monday. Unlike a regular primary that relies on ballots, this is a form of caucus where people have to show up in person and express who they support.

Sue Erickson stands with a snow shovel and tries to dig out her car. She intended to see Trump, but will support him anyway at the caucus on Monday.

-Are you disappointed that it was cancelled?

– Not real. I didn't want to travel in this weather either,” she told Dagbladet.

I've voted for Trump in the past as well.

-I believe in it. He is for the people and tells the truth. “I also don't like Biden at all,” Erickson says.

But not everyone in the small town of 7,000 is a Trump supporter.

This meets Trump

– Maybe it's fifty-fifty. He talks a lot, so he makes a lot of people interact, but that's also what a lot of people like, Fred Pekin tells Dagbladet as he tries to clear his driveway of snow.

He himself had no intention of going to Trump's rally.

– But I appreciate that he's trying to come to small communities like Atlantic.

– The worst weather conditions

On Monday, the temperature could drop to 35 degrees below zero in the capital, Des Moines. If so, it would be the coldest ever during an Iowa caucus, and many candidates fear it could lead to very poor attendance.

For now, it is highly uncertain how the truncated election campaign and bad weather will affect the outcome. However, many experts suggest that Trump may have the largest number of primary voters willing to brave the elements to give him their support on Monday.

-You have the worst weather ever recorded in history, but maybe that's a good thing because our people are more involved than anyone else, Trump himself says in a video posted on Friday evening.