Trump's Iowa campaign ramps up its organizing after his infamously chaotic 2016 second-place effort

Former President Donald Trump arrives at a commit to caucus rally, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, in Waterloo, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — By the time Donald Trump returns to Iowa, the Republican ex-president will have drawn more than 10,000 people to his events in the state in less than a month. But veterans of Iowa politics know crowds don’t always translate to caucuses. Unlike Trump’s seat-of-the-pants second-place campaign in 2016, he has a more sophisticated organization.

Trump will pair a traditional speech Monday with a caucus organizing event at which he talks about how to participate Jan. 15. Trump’s campaign has collected pledge cards at its events and has a system in place to follow up.

Trump’s advisers want to lock in support for a blowout victory that discourages talk of a second-place finisher challenging him.