Republican candidate Donald Trump heaped scorn on the reactions to his performance in the Iowa Caucus. At a rally in Milford, N.H., on Feb. 2, Trump said the media unfairly proclaimed rival Marco Rubio's third-place finish as a success. (Reuters) 
 
 MILFORD, N.H. — Donald Trump returned to New Hampshire on Tuesday night with the stakes as high as ever for his presidential campaign, determined to showcase his political resilience after his second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and rouse his supporters with a rally that was a raucous return to form. 
 
 There was swagger, curses and confidence, and thousands of people packed into an athletic center, all bundled up in winter coats and many toting signs. 
 
 Speaking for more than 55 minutes, Trump revived the talking points that have defined his campaign: He slammed former Florida governor Jeb Bush. He promised to crack down on illegal immigration, build a wall on the border and bring back jobs from overseas. He criticized career politicians and accused them of selling their influence. 
 
 And the crowd roared when he cursed as he pledged to aggressively target Islamic State terrorists. "If we are attacked, somebody attacks us, wouldn't you rather have Trump as president if we're attacked?" he asked. "We'll beat the [expletive] out of them." 
 
 But first came a little reflection — and a few digs at the pundits who have described the Iowa victory by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) as a humbling and disappointing moment for the mogul. 
 
 “I think we had a very good result yesterday. It could have been a little bit better, could have been one notch better,” Trump said at a news conference here. “They say, ‘Oh, couldn’t you have done better?’ But I think the result was quite good, especially for the amount of time I spent and the amount of money I spent.” 
 
 When given an opening to knock Iowans, Trump resisted. “Great people,” he said. “They are terrific people.” He expressed confidence that he would do well in next week’s New Hampshire primary, which he said “probably suits me better.” 
 
 When it comes to setting expectations for New Hampshire, Trump was careful about whether the state was a must-win contest for him. “I’d love to finish first,” he said. “Again, it would still not be horrible” to come in second “because you’re competing against a lot of talented people that have been politicians all of their lives. I’ve been a politician for six months.” 
 
 Trump was dismissive when asked about any lessons learned from defeat: “It's not a question of learning. I just want to continue to do well.” He noted that “my brand is doing great.” 
 
 He took repeated swipes at the press for its coverage of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), an establishment favorite who finished a strong third in Iowa. “You mention the person, Marco, good guy, but he came in third,” Trump said, shaking his head. “They make it sound like he had a victory and I didn’t. I came in second.” 
 
 Turning to Cruz, he accused the Texan of being behind efforts that have damaged Ben Carson’s campaign. He added that a mailer in Iowa sent by Cruz’s campaign that revealed neighbors' voting participation was malicious: “He insulted Ben Carson by doing what he did to Ben Carson. That was a disgrace…. He’s a man of insult.” 
 
 Trump firmly stood by his decision to skip the Fox News Channel debate last week after clashing with the network over its treatment of him. “If I had to do it again, I would have done the exact same thing,” he said. “The reason is — do you know why? — because I raised $6 million for the vets in one hour.” 
 
 Trump did say that he would attend the upcoming Republican debate in New Hampshire. 
 
 A day after his campaign drew criticism for being out-organized in parts of Iowa by Cruz, Trump said he was not planning to revamp his strategy in New Hampshire. There would be intimate events, he said, but big rallies would still drive his bid. 
 
 To highlight his support in a state where he has led the polls for months, Trump appeared at the news conference alongside Scott P. Brown, the moderate former Massachusetts senator with blue-collar roots who ran for Senate in New Hampshire two years ago. In effusive remarks, Brown endorsed Trump. 
 
 Former Senator and Republican commentator Scott Brown endorses Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, as the candidates prepare for the New Hampshire primary (Reuters) 
 
 Earlier, there was a surprise stop at his campaign’s bustling headquarters in Manchester, a short drive from where he and his aides — and his daughter, Ivanka — arrived at dusk in Trump’s Boeing 757. 
 
 As Trump stepped into a phone bank decorated with homemade posters and wooden slabs of his initials, “DJT,” he flashed a thumbs up — and he introduced Brown to a crowd of people in sweatshirts. While Trump signed autographs, Brown played the role of photographer, tapping his finger on glass screens for volunteers. 
 
 A young man piped up as Trump posed for selfies, reminding him that “you once said the winners are separated from the losers by how they respond to each new twist of fate.” 
 
 “You better believe it. Very good!” Trump said. 
 
 Trump griped that he is partly self-funding his campaign and, in his mind, not getting enough credit. “I just don’t know if the voters care.” His smile dropped and staffers quickly shouted “We care!” and broke into applause as if to cheer him up. 
 
 When another man spoke up and said Trump would win New Hampshire, Trump nodded and smiled wryly as he analyzed his chances. 
 
 “I think now we’re going to go first,” he said. “You’re right. It’s going to be great. We’re going to have a great thing in New Hampshire.” 
 
 “You’re going to love New Hampshire!” the man replied. 
 
 “Everyone’s in love, right?” Trump said. He glanced at the rows of idle phones. 
 
 “We’ll leave you alone. Good luck everybody; we’re going to be back a lot. Okay? Back a lot.” ||||| AP Photo Trump: 'We are going to win so much' 
 
 Donald Trump was magnanimous in declaring victory Tuesday night — but all signs of his immediate post-Iowa humility were gone. 
 
 Instead, he was back to boasting about "winning" and pledging to make American great again, while taking slams at Democratic winner Bernie Sanders and totally ignoring Hillary Clinton. 
 
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 “We are going to start winning again and we are going to win so much," Trump said at his victory party in Manchester, two hours after news outlets declared him the victor in the New Hampshire GOP primary. "You are going to be so happy.” 
 
 He immediately blasted Sanders, who had given his own victory speech just before him. 
 
 “I heard parts of Bernie’s speech," Trump said. "He wants to give away our country, folks.” 
 
 But Trump also struck populist notes similar to those Sanders had sounded, trumpeting what he called his self-funded campaign and his independence from lobbyists and special interests. “I think one of the things that really caught on — self-funding my campaign,” Trump said. 
 
 “We are now going to make [deals] for your benefit," he added. "We are going to make the deals for the American people.” 
 
 Trump never mentioned Clinton, who trailed Sanders by more than 20 points with more than three-quarters of the results in. 
 
 He nodded only obliquely to his second-place finish in Iowa behind Ted Cruz. 
 
 "You know, we learned a lot about ground games in one week, I have to tell you,” he said. 
 
 Trump acted the part of the GOP front-runner at the start of his speech, thanking Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and congratulating the Republicans who had finished far behind him — though he quickly moved on. “Now that I got that over with...,” he said. 
 
 Trump reiterated many of the campaign pledges he's been making for months: rebuilding the military, taking care of veterans, protecting the Second Amendment and building a wall on the Mexican border. 
 
 “We’re going to build a wall," he said. "It’s going to be built. Believe it or not, it’s not even a difficult thing to do.” 
 
 He pledged to be "the greatest jobs president that God ever created" and cast doubt on the official unemployment rate of 4.9 percent, suggested that the real unemployment rate could be as high as 42 percent. 
 
 Trump thanked his parents, his siblings, his wife and his children, as well as his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and his spokeswoman, Hope Hicks. 
 
 He said his wife, Melania, "said right from the beginning, 'You know, if you run you know you’re going to win.'” 
 
 With 76 percent of the vote counted in the GOP primary, Trump was leading with 34 percent of the vote. John Kasich was in second with 16 percent, with Cruz, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio behind him. ||||| Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., reacts to the cheering crowd at his primary night rally Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/J. David Ake) (Associated Press) 
 
 MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Bernie Sanders rode a wave of voter frustration with American politics to commanding victories in Tuesday's New Hampshire primaries, adding crucial credibility to their upstart candidacies. 
 
 Sanders swept majorities of men, women, independents and young people in his win over Hillary Clinton, but faces challenges in the more diverse states that come next on the primary calendar. Trump, appealing to voters seeking a political outsider, could benefit from the persistent lack of clarity among the more mainstream Republicans struggling to challenge him. 
 
 "We are going to do something so good and so fast and so strong and the world is going to respect us again, believe me," Trump said at a victory rally. 
 
 Ohio Gov. John Kasich grabbed second in New Hampshire after pouring nearly all of his campaign resources into the state. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio vied for third along with Ted Cruz, the Iowa caucus winner, ensuring all would press on to the next voting contest in South Carolina. 
 
 Sanders, at his own raucous rally, said his victory sent a message "that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine to California. And that is that the government of our great country belongs to all of the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their super PACs." 
 
 The enthusiasm behind Trump, a real estate mogul who has never held political office, and Vermont Sen. Sanders, who says he is a democratic socialist, underscores the public's anger with the current political and economic system. Even if neither candidate ultimately becomes his party's nominee, whoever wins that nomination will have to reckon with the voter frustration they've tapped into. 
 
 Clinton appeared to recognize that reality in her concession speech, echoing Sanders' calls for taking on Wall Street banks and tackling income inequality. But she cast herself as more prepared to make good on her pledges. 
 
 "People have every right to be angry. But they're also hungry, they're hungry for solutions," she said after congratulating Sanders on his win. 
 
 New Hampshire did little to clarify the crowded contest among more mainstream GOP candidates fighting to emerge as a challenger to Trump and Texas Sen. Cruz. Florida Sen. Rubio, former Florida Gov. Bush and Cruz battled for third behind Kasich. 
 
 Throughout the heated primary campaign, Kasich has prided himself on not attacking his rivals. A more moderate Republican from a politically important state, Kasich told supporters Tuesday night that his second-place finish could be an indication that "we're turning the page on a dark part of American politics." 
 
 The day was a blow for Rubio, who had appeared to be breaking away from the second-tier Republican pack after a stronger-than-expected showing in Iowa. But he stumbled in Saturday's debate under intense pressure from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has relentlessly cast the young senator as too inexperienced and too reliant on memorized talking points to become president. 
 
 Rubio conceded that the debate may have hurt him in Tuesday's contest and pledged to supporters that his poor performance "will never happen again." 
 
 Christie, however, didn't benefit from roughing up Rubio. He lagged behind the pack as votes were being tallied and said he planned to return home to New Jersey to "make a decision on our next step forward." 
 
 Bush was pressing on, declaring that New Hampshire voters had "reset the race." 
 
 Republican voters were more negative about their politicians than Democrats, with about half of GOP voters saying they felt betrayed by party officials. Trump carried a majority of those who said they wanted an outsider to win, according to exit polls conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks. 
 
 More than half of voters in the Republican primary made up their minds in the past week. However, Trump's support appeared more sustained, with his supporters saying they made up their minds some time ago. 
 
 In a sign of Trump's impact on the race, two-thirds of GOP voters said they supported a temporary ban on non-citizen Muslims entering the U.S., a position the billionaire outlined last year amid rising fears of terrorism emanating from the Middle East. 
 
 Sanders pulled from a broad coalition of New Hampshire voters, gathering a majority of votes from both men and women, independents and voters under 45. Hillary Clinton won the majority of those over 65. 
 
 Clinton's campaign argues she will perform better as the race heads to more racially diverse states, including Nevada and South Carolina. Both New Hampshire and Iowa are overwhelmingly white states that are far less diverse than the nation as a whole. 
 
 As polls closed, her campaign manager Robby Mook blasted out a memo touting Clinton's strength with Hispanics and black voters and arguing that a Democrat cannot win the presidency without support from those constituencies. 
 
 The distinctions between what motivated Sanders and Clinton voters were sharp. The Vermont senator was backed by 9 in 10 voters for whom honesty was important and 8 in 10 who wanted a candidate who "cares about people like me." Clinton, meanwhile, won support from nearly 90 percent of those who considered the "right" experience important in their decision and about 80 percent of those regarding electability as the most important factor. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Pace reported from Washington. AP writers Lisa Lerer, Ken Thomas, Holly Ramer, Steve Peoples, Julie Bykowicz, Thomas Beaumont and Kathleen Hennessey, and AP News Survey Specialist Emily Swanson contributed to this report. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Kathleen Ronayne at http://twitter.com/KRonayne ||||| Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersPro-Clinton Super-PAC launches 2 ads against Trump Reid blames Sanders supporters for disruptions at Nev. convention Overnight Finance: House unveils 2M Zika bill | GOP hasn't given up on budget | New phase in Puerto Rico fight MORE told a screaming crowd at his New Hampshire headquarters that his victory over Hillary Clinton Hillary Rodham ClintonPro-Clinton Super-PAC launches 2 ads against Trump Overnight Healthcare: Zika fight enters new phase Democrats’ promises same as past utopian efforts — they will fail MORE in the state's primary was the result of excited voters he said could be mobilized in a general election. 
 
 "What happened here in New Hampshire in terms of the enthusiastic and aroused electorate ... that is what will happen all over this country," Sanders said. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT Surrounded by supporters chanting "we don't need no super-PAC," the Vermont Independent declared, "It is just too late for the same old same old establishment ... the American people want real change." 
 
 "The government of our great country belongs to all the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their super-PACS." 
 
 Sanders began speaking to the crowd a little more than an hour after The Associated Press called the race in his favor immediately after polls closed in New Hampshire. 
 
 Sanders reminded the crowd that just nine months ago they had no campaign organization and no money, "and we were taking on the most powerful political organization in the United States of America" — referring to the Clintons. 
 
 Sanders said he was going to New York City tonight and tomorrow but not to hold a fundraiser on Wall Street. He said he was instead going to hold a fundraiser "right here, right now, right across America," asking his supporters to go to his website and contribute. 
 
 The crowd cheered loudest when Sanders talked about a "yuge" voter turnout. "And I say 'yuuuge,'" he said, riffing on a line he used on Saturday Night Live with comedian Larry David. 
 
 "Yuge!" the Sanders supporters yelled. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Corky Siemaszko 
 
 President Donald Trump’s trashing of New Hampshire as a "drug-infested den" in a telephone conversation with the president of Mexico did not go over well in the Granite State. 
 
 Outraged by the jab, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., took to Trump’s favorite social media platform Thursday and called his remark “disgusting.” 
 
 "Instead of insulting people in the throes of addiction, @POTUS needs to work across party lines to actually stem the tide of this crisis," Hassan tweeted. 
 
 New Hampshire's other Democratic senator, Jeanne Shaheen, called Trump's reported remarks "absolutely unacceptable" and said he owes her state "an apology." 
 
 The state's Republican governor, Chris Sununu, slammed Trump as well. 
 
 "The President is wrong," the governor said in a statement. "It's disappointing his mischaracterization of this epidemic ignores the great things this state has to offer." 
 
 Grant Bosse, the editorial page editor of the conservative and influential Manchester-based New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper, said the paper was also preparing a response to Trump’s reported remark. In a statement to NBC News, he wrote: 
 
 "Campaigning in New Hampshire's First in the Nation primary, Donald Trump was impressed by the severity of the festering drug crisis, and he shared the frustration of New Hampshire voters. Trump being Trump, he's using exaggerated and crude language, which is hardly useful. He should also know that New Hampshire is at the forefront of dealing with this crisis, which has hit us as hard as anywhere." 
 
 On his Twitter page, Bosse also took aim at Trump's Democratic critics. 
 
 The president made the disparaging remark about New Hampshire in a Jan. 27 conversation with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, the transcript of which was obtained by The Washington Post and published Thursday. 
 
 As seen in the transcript, Trump raised the issue of New Hampshire as he pressed a reluctant Peña Nieto to pay for his border wall. 
 
 "We have a massive drug problem where kids are becoming addicted to drugs because the drugs are being sold for less money than candy," he said. "I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den." 
 
 In reality, Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire by about 3,000 votes in the presidential election. But Trump handily won the Republican primary. 
 
 So far the White House has declined to comment on the leaked transcripts of Trump’s calls with Peña Nieto or his Jan. 28 telephone conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 
 
 But New Hampshire does have a serious drug problem and has been hit hard by the deadly opioid epidemic. In 2015, it was the state with the second-highest rate of drug overdose deaths (after West Virginia) with 34.3 per 100,000 people, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
 Both Hassan and Shaheen have been pressing the Trump administration to make good on its promises to "combat the opioid epidemic." 
 
 So far, Hassan tweeted, Trump has not made good on his promises.
– Donald Trump won the first electoral victory of his life Tuesday night and he promised supporters there would be many more to come. "We are going to start winning again and we are going to win so much," he said at his victory party in New Hampshire, per Politico. "You are going to be so happy." Trump—who cruised to victory with around 34% of the vote—went on to repeat campaign promises to build a border wall, "make America great again," and be the "greatest jobs president that God ever created." He also slammed fellow New Hampshire winner Bernie Sanders, accusing him of wanting "to give away our country." Here's what some of the other candidates had to say: Marco Rubio finally admitted that his debate performance on Saturday was a disaster, the Washington Post reports. "Our disappointment tonight is not on you—it's on me," Rubio, who finished in fifth, told supporters. "I did not do well on Saturday night, so listen to this: That will never happen again." During his victory speech, Bernie Sanders praised the "yuge" voter turnout and said that what happened in New Hampshire "in terms of the enthusiastic and aroused electorate" will happen all over America, reports the Hill. "The government of our great country belongs to all the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their super PACS," he said. In a fiery concession speech, Hillary Clinton vowed to "take this campaign to the entire country" and "fight for every vote in every state," reports Politico. "It's not whether you get knocked down that matters, it's whether you get back up," she said. Ted Cruz, claiming he was "effectively tied for third" in the New Hampshire race, congratulated Trump and John Kasich and thanked New Hampshire, telling supporters: "Your victory tonight has left the Washington cartel utterly terrified." After his second-place finish, Kasich told supporters that there was "magic in the air" and the "light overcame the darkness of negative campaigning," per the Boston Globe. "In this campaign, I've become convinced even more about what it takes to win a political campaign and what it takes for somebody to be a leader," he said. "It's not just what’s up here in the head, it's also what's deep in here in the heart."