Iowa swept by snowstorm three days before crucial primaries for Donald Trump

Canceled flights, snowy roads, postponed campaign meetings… A winter storm sowed chaos on Friday January 12 in the American state of Iowa, three days before the first electoral meeting of the year for the Republicans. This state must launch the big party of the primaries on January 15, of which Donald Trump is the big favorite, if indeed the voters come to vote.

Iowa is being swept by a severe cold wave that the American authorities themselves described as “dangerous”. In the capital Des Moines where snow fell all day, few vehicles tried their luck on the slippery roads. Dozens of cars and trucks were overturned on the road. Gusts of more than 50km/h are expected overnight and the mercury, which is at -9°C, is expected to drop by another 10 to 20 degrees over the coming days.

Most of the flights, supposed to bring in thousands of journalists, activists and campaign volunteers who came to attend the first major meeting of the American presidential election, were canceled or redirected to neighboring states. Donald Trump also has to deal with the chaos caused by the storm: several of his campaign meetings were canceled on Saturday across the state. Four times criminally charged, the billionaire is counting on a resounding victory in Iowa to quickly be designated as the Republican candidate against Joe Biden in November.