'Great tradition!': Trump vows to uphold Iowa's first-in-nation status after Democrats' caucus disaster

• Trump's latest dig at Dems came on Twitter in defense of the two first-in-the-nation nominating states.
• After the Iowa Democratic Party failed to release any official caucus results Monday night, speculation has grown over whether the Hawkeye State will vote first for Democrats ever again.
• With their fates intertwined, palpable anxiety has grown in New Hampshire over whether their status is in jeopardy.
• Both states' predominantly white and ageing demographics have led Dems to call for more diverse states to vote first.
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CONCORD, N.H. - Iowa and New Hampshire found a new defender in their first-in-the-nation status in the nominating process Friday when President Donald Trump vowed to protect them despite the Iowa caucus fiasco that has Democrats furious.

While Trump has no authority over which states vote first in the primaries - a decision left up to the Republican and Democratic National Committees - his late morning tweet took a dig at Democrats after the bungled, days-long rollout of official results from Monday's Iowa Caucuses.

"Iowa and New Hampshire will not be moved from the Primary Schedule as long as I am President," Trump tweeted. "Great tradition!"

Pressure began mounting on Iowa and New Hampshire well before this week.

Former Democratic presidential hopeful Julian Castro was an early skeptic about why Iowa and New Hampshire exert an outsize impact on the primary process when their predominantly white and ageing populations do not reflect the diversity of the party as well as other states like Illinois and New Jersey.

Other states have tried and failed to usurp one or both first-in-the-nation states before, but after the days-long saga of this week's caucuses, the heat has been turned up.

Pundits and political observers have speculated whether the caucus debacle could spell the end of Iowa balloting first for the Democratic nominee ever again.

The failed app was supposed to report three sets of numbers on caucus night and could be the final straw for the Hawkeye State on the Democratic side, leaving New Hampshire in a tough spot ahead of its vote next Tuesday.

Both states' first-in-the-nation status dates back to the riotous 1968 Democratic Party Convention in Chicago - where Dan Rather got punched in the stomach on live TV with Walter Cronkite narrating - which led to reforms allowing voters to have a greater sway than party insiders in picking the nominee. Through a mix of circumstance and luck, Iowa and New Hampshire have been first ever since, and have stuck together by agreeing to their distinct formats.

Bill Gardner, the New Hampshire secretary of state who has been dubbed "the guardian" of the New Hampshire Primary for running the Granite State's elections since 1976, told Insider on Tuesday that his state should be immune to Iowa's troubles because of their paper ballot, one-voter-one-vote system.

However, in a sign of how intertwined the fates of the two states are, Gardner was hesitant to throw Iowa under the bus.

"It doesn't help," Gardner said of the impact Monday's fiasco could have on Iowa's status.

In Trump world, the president's adult sons and others in his circle have floated conspiracy theories about the delayed caucus results being part of a vague, nefarious effort by the Democrats.