--- title: Donald Trump Towers Over Rivals in Latest National Poll description: Donald Trump has solidified his national lead over his Republican opponents, according to a new poll canonical: https://time.com/4193776/donald-trump-leads-ted-cruz-national-poll/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-26T14:25:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:54.410Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Towers Over Rivals in Latest National Poll og:description: A separate Iowa poll found that Trump and Cruz are neck-and-neck before the caucuses og:url: https://time.com/4193776/donald-trump-leads-ted-cruz-national-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90b8355216a7c452/69887a9b0a4a2259f59c8106/donald-trump14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Campaigns In Iowa Ahead Of Caucuses og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Towers Over Rivals in Latest National Poll twitter:description: A separate Iowa poll found that Trump and Cruz are neck-and-neck before the caucuses twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt90b8355216a7c452/69887a9b0a4a2259f59c8106/donald-trump14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Towers Over Rivals in Latest National Poll > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c0598378-54be-4f22-a384-e969f24d0efa&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump: 'I Have to Win' [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump: 'I Have to Win'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RaDVQ2PJ.m3u8) (2:30)  _Published 2015-12-09. Watch Time magazine's interview with Donald Trump for Person of the Year_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 26, 2016 2:25 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 26, 2016 2:25 PM UTC Donald Trump has [solidified his national lead ](http://time.com/4181801/trump-cruz-republican-poll/)over his Republican opponents, [according to a new poll](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-first-voting-nears-trump-seems-stronger/2016/01/25/349439d4-c392-11e5-a4aa-f25866ba0dc6%5Fstory.html). The Washington _Post_\-ABC News poll, released on Tuesday, found that Trump has the support of 37% of registered Republicans and Republican-leading independents, keeping a consistent lead. Trailing him, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz rose to 21%. In third place, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has 11%. Trump’s supporters are more certain about their vote than other candidates’ supporters are, with a majority saying they will definitely for Trump. Republicans also think Trump is better than his rivals on issues, including the economy, immigration and terrorism threats, according to the poll. The poll, conducted between Jan. 21 and Jan. 24, surveyed 1,001 adults and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points overall and +/- 5.5 percentage points among the 356 Republicans and Republican-leaning voters surveyed. Meanwhile, a [new Iowa poll](http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/iowa/release-detail?ReleaseID=2318) released on Tuesday showed Trump and Cruz [neck-and-neck in the Hawkeye State](http://time.com/4181973/donald-trump-ted-cruz-iowa/), less than [a week away from the caucuses](http://time.com/4192254/one-week-until-iowa/). The Quinnipiac University poll found Trump at 31% and Cruz at 29% among likely Republican caucus-goers. Rubio came in third with 13%. The Quinnipiac poll, which surveyed 651 likely Republican Iowa caucus-goers, was conducted from Jan. 18 to Jan. 24 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.8 percentage points. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] I see your face. [ MUSIC ] My crowds have gotten larger. They've gotten even more energized to a point where we go into a place, whether it's New Hampshire, whether it's Iowa, whether it's Columbus, Ohio. No matter where I go, we have many more people than we anticipated. And the other thing I see now that I didn't see as much, tremendous energy, tremendous spirit. They want to make America great again. It's very simple. They want to make America great again. [ CROSSTALK ] [ APPLAUSE ] United States, Donald Trump. I am less politically correct than you're supposed to be and I will tell you, I don't do it purposely. I could be so politically correct you would sit with me and people would say, wow, he is such a fine person, he is a, I just don't have time for it. Political correctness takes a lot of time, takes a tremendous amount of time. We are lead by very, very stupid people. Mexico sends it's people. Oh I don't know what I said. They're not sending their best. I don't remember. Bringing drugs. Out of hundreds of deals that I've done. They're bringing crime. I've taken advantage of the laws of this country. They're rapists. We don't win anymore. And some, I assume, are good people. I'm really rich. I'll show you that myself. I was called by a major, major A reporter, whose name I won't use. He said, " How does it feel ?" I said, " How does what feel ?" " What you've done has never been done in the history of United States politics. I say, " What do you mean by that ?" He said, " Nobody has ever done what you've done. The energy, the crowds, the whole concept of what you've done has never been done ." And I said, " Well, what have I done? I haven't won ." If I don't win it's just a waste of time as far as I'm concerned. I will consider it a giant waste of time. He said, no you're wrong, if you don't win you have still done something that's never been done before. I tend to disagree with him, I think I have to win. I'm about winning. 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