- The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 2, 2016

A subdued Donald Trump broke his past-caucus silence, taking to Twitter Tuesday to say he’s still proud of his second-place showing in Iowa a day before, and saying he’s not getting enough credit for his unique campaign.

He said he was a “long-shot” candidate in Iowa, making his 24 percent of the vote — more than 45,000 votes in total, which would have easily been enough to win any previous caucus — all the more of a victory.

He also hinted at potential regret that he’s spending his own money and declining to solicit contributions.

“I don’t believe I have been given any credit by the voters for self-funding my campaign, the only one,” he said in a Twitter message posted just before noon. “I will keep doing, but not worth it!”

His five posts broke a 20-hour silence on his usually active account. And the tone of the new posts was defensive, lacking the bravado that had characterized his campaign before. He did not once mention his ubiquitous campaign slogan to “make America great again.”

Mr. Trump, a first-time candidate, had entered Iowa with high expectations, having led in polling there in recent weeks. And he made good on his vow to turn out new voters, drawing what would have been a record first-place finish in any previous year.

But Sen. Ted Cruz did even better, winning more than 51,000 votes to garner 28 percent of the overall vote. And Sen. Marco Rubio trailed closely behind Mr. Trump, some 2,000 votes behind, which was 23 percent of the caucus total.

In his post-election speech Mr. Trump was gracious, thanking Iowa for welcoming him and vowing to do better in New Hampshire.

He’s slated to hold an evening event in New Hampshire later Tuesday, and on Twitter he said he would talk about his “unfair treatment by the media.”

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

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