Donald Trump suggested he didn’t spend much in Iowa because he was told he couldn’t do well, but said it was an honor to still finish second. | Getty Trump breaks 15-hour Twitter silence

Ted Cruz’s first-place finish in the Iowa caucuses Monday silenced Donald Trump for more than 15 hours.

By 11 a.m. Monday, Trump had declared to his millions of Twitter followers, “WE WILL FINALLY TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK AND MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” At a rally in Iowa just hours ahead of caucusing, he predicted a “tremendous victory.”


But in the end he was 2016's first big loser, 4 percentage points behind Cruz and just 1 point ahead of Marco Rubio, who tied Trump with seven delegates. And his Twitter feed, which boasts more than 30,000 tweets broadcast to his nearly 6 million followers, had been quiet for more than 15 hours.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the political outsider known for speaking his mind hadn’t had anything to say since the caucuses concluded. The bombastic billionaire hadn’t cast a single retweet or made mention of a poll, called on voters to “Make America Great Again,” given a heads-up for TV appearances or an upcoming rally with big crowds, or even thrown an attack or insult at the media. Trump’s last tweet encouraged Iowans to caucus and was sent Monday at 7:34 p.m.

But by 11:03 a.m. Tuesday, a humbled Trump finally spoke out after more than 15-and-a-half hours of silence, tweeting that he exceeded experts’ expectations in Iowa with his second-place finish:

My experience in Iowa was a great one. I started out with all of the experts saying I couldn't do well there and ended up in 2nd place. Nice — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2016

Eleven minutes later, he suggested he didn’t spend much in Iowa because he was told he couldn’t do well but said it was an honor to still finish second:

Because I was told I could not do well in Iowa, I spent very little there - a fraction of Cruz & Rubio. Came in a strong second. Great honor — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2016

Trump returned to form just before 11:30 a.m., when he called out the media for not fairly reporting his “long-shot great finish”:

The media has not covered my long-shot great finish in Iowa fairly. Brought in record voters and got second highest vote total in history! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2016

Trump vowed to continue slamming the media during appearances in New Hampshire, where he holds a massive lead over his rivals, according to a RealClearPolitics average of state polls. The state will hold its first-in-the-nation primary next Tuesday.

I will be talking about my wonderful experience in Iowa and the simultaneous unfair treatment by the media-later in New Hampshire. Big crowd — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2016

Though it’s not worth it, Trump added, he will continue self-funding his campaign, which he notes he doesn’t get enough credit for:

I don't believe I have been given any credit by the voters for self-funding my campaign, the only one. I will keep doing, but not worth it! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2016