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His absence was mocked by his rivals
Donald Trump loomed large over the final Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses, despite not being on stage.
His absence was mocked by his rivals, who tried to fill the space vacated by Mr Trump’s boycott by attacking each other on immigration and other issues.
Mr Trump decided to withdraw after Fox News refused to drop debate host Megyn Kelly, whom he accused of bias.
The billionaire held a rally nearby, in honour of war veterans, that threatened to overshadow the debate itself.
On Monday, voters in Iowa are due to pick their presidential nominee for each party.
Days ahead of that critical test, Mr Trump’s absence on the stage in Des Moines was keenly felt by his seven rivals in the race to be Republican presidential nominee.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz addressed it with humour in the opening minutes by throwing mock insults at his rivals.
“I’m a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly, and Ben [Carson], you’re a terrible surgeon,” he said.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush also poked fun at the hotel tycoon, his chief tormenter in previous debates, by saying how much he missed him.
Analysis – Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Des Moines
In the end they came to praise Donald Trump and not to bury him. Ted Cruz gave the billionaire frontrunner a mild jab at the beginning of his opening statement, but then he added that he was glad Mr Trump was running. Marco Rubio said he was an “entertaining guy”.
After that, Mr Trump was largely ignored, with the candidates sticking to their talking points. The only bit of real drama came when Senators Rubio and Cruz were confronted with video clips of their past conflicting statements on immigration reform.
It gave former Florida Governor Jeb Bush a chance to point out that he, unlike Mr Rubio, is standing by his commitment to immigration reform.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also found a winning line, when he noted that he needed a “Washington-to-English dictionary” to understand the two senators.
Christie and Bush likely posted the best performance of the debate, but it’s hard to see how Mr Trump – who was made it through the night largely unscathed – didn’t also come out on top.
The broadcaster released a statement that said Mr Trump offered to appear at the debate if Fox contributed $5m to his charities, but they refused.
Data released by Google after the debate suggested that search interest in Mr Trump still far surpassed the other candidates.
Many observers on social media thought the event was duller without the brash New Yorker.
BBC