Sarah Palin jumps into 2016 race, endorses Donald Trump

Sarah Palin joined Donald Trump on the campaign trail on Tuesday in Iowa after offering him her endorsement earlier in the day, calling him a ‘rogue’ candidate who is ‘beholden to no one but we the people’.

She said: “I’m proud to endorse Donald J Trump for president.”

Trump is narrowly ahead in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate ahead of rival Ted Cruz.

Palin, a former Alaska governor who was Republican Senator John McCain's running mate in the 2008 election, described Trump as an anti-establishment candidate who would “kick Islamic State’s ass,” referring to the Islamic State militant group.

Palin said there was nothing wrong with Trump being a multibillionaire and that it did not make him an elitist, citing all the time he had spent with construction workers as a real-estate developer.

As Trump stood alongside, Palin said: “The status quo has got to go,” adding that the political establishment had been “wearing political correctness kind of like a suicide vest”.

In a statement before the event, Trump said he was “greatly honoured” by the endorsement. “She is a friend, and a high-quality person whom I have great respect for.”

Palin's approval comes at a pivotal moment as the countdown begins to the presidential primary, on February 1.

She told crowds at the rally in Ames, Iowa: “He's the master of the art of the deal.