‘Final roll of the dice!’ Nikki Haley poised for New Hampshire drubbing as Donald Trump’s allies predict ‘massive’ victory

The 45th President can all but seal his third successive Grand Old Party nomination with an emphatic victory on Tuesday.

New Hampshire, which voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020, could prove a tougher test for Trump with opinion polls giving the 77-year-old an average lead of 17.5 per cent.

Trump’s lead is slightly smaller in the Granite State compared to other primary races as Haley continues to court non-MAGA Republicans and independents.

However, allies of the 45th President remain confident of victory after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race to endorse Trump.

Pastor Mark Burns, who is closely connected with Trump’s inner circle, told GB News: “DeSantis did the right thing by dropping out of the race and endorsing President Trump. He had no clear path to the White House and donors dried up.

“DeSantis dropping out will have the same outcome as it was if he was still in the race and that’s a massive Trump win in New Hampshire.”

Commenting on Haley’s attempt to win over Granite State Republicans, the 44-year-old pastor claimed the ex-UN Ambassador could look to double-down efforts in an attempt to derail Trump’s White House bid.

Burns, who welcomed DeSantis’ show of “solidarity”, claimed: “I don’t necessarily see Haley dropping out after the New Hampshire primary unless the so-called ‘Establishment’ sees no viable roadmap to defeat Donald Trump.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to roll the dice and keep pumping money into her campaign with the hope that something besides the American voter derails Donald Trump’s march to victory.

“My comments to Team Haley would simply come down to this, a house divided cannot stand. It’s time to unite so we can defeat our real adversary, the Biden administration.”

• Donald Trump ‘CRUSHED ISIS’: Ex-president’s son says US is a soft touch under Biden
• Joe Biden mocks TRUMP over gaffes despite his repeated blunders
• Eric Trump says Biden WON’T be Democrat nominee for president

Calls to unite behind Trump were echoed tonight by leading GOP officials in Washington, with the Republican Party’s House and Senate campaign chiefs also describing the 45th President as the “presumptive nominee”.

Haley will face pressure to pull out of the GOP primary race if Trump wins in New Hampshire, with opinion polls suggesting the 52-year-old could face a drubbing in her home state South Carolina next month.

The 2024 Republican Party primary race, similarly to the GOP’s 2016 contest, was initially crowded with more than a dozen candidates challenging Trump for the conservative crown.

However, Trump and Haley are the only major candidates still in the race.

Despite briefly leading Trump in 2023, DeSantis pulled out of the race on Sunday and endorsed Trump to defeat Biden.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, anti-woke entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, conservative commentator Larry Elder and businessman Perry Johnson also endorsed the 45th President after suspending their campaigns.

Trump also received a surprise endorsement from Boris Johnson as the former Prime Minister claimed the 45th President’s potential White House return has left the “global wokerati trembling violently”.

However, ex-Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and former Texas Representative Will Hurd threw their weight behind Haley’s bid.

Despite working closely with Trump from 2016 to 2020, ex-Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have not endorsed either candidate.

Haley said she does not need Christie’s support after the two-time GOP candidate warned the ex-UN Ambassador was “going to get smoked” by Trump.

Despite a number of former candidates rallying behind Trump’s third White House bid, Republican strategists remain uncertain about how the Granite State race could pan out.

Greg Swenson, who chairs Republicans Overseas UK, argued indictments “lit up” the Trump campaign.

He said: “There’s no chance Haley wins. If she loses by more than 15 per cent in New Hampshire she will have to drop out.”

GOP strategist Amy Koch, who is in New Hampshire, instead suggested it is “hard to tell” whether Trump or Haley will come out on top in the Granite State.

“Polls say Trump but Haley is pulling out everything,” she said.

“I believe if Haley doesn’t win or get within a point or two she drops out.”

Koch claimed the race is tight because Americans are “disappointed” November 5 could see a rerun of the last election between Trump and Biden.

She added: “Many in the GOP are tired of the chaos, of his own making or not, that follows the former President.”

However, Koch argued Trump “certainly can” beat Biden as the current Commander-in-Chief is “much weaker” than he was in 2020.

Burns, who also supported the ex-POTUS' White House bids in 2016 and 2020, claimed Trump’s campaign was very much alive and kicking.

After slamming Biden’s economic agenda and failure to deal with the migrant crisis on the southern border, he said: “The 2024 Trump campaign is a thing of beauty, by focusing on solving problems for the American people and creating a vision to strengthen the United States.

“There is no need for the Trump campaign to make any real adjustments. They have solved the puzzle of how best to defeat Joe Biden’s failed agenda.”

Recent opinion polls suggest Trump could become just the second Commander-in-Chief since Grover Cleveland to serve two non-consecutive terms in the Oval Office.

HarrisX’s latest opinion poll handed the 77-year-old a four-point lead over Biden.

Such a result would likely help Trump flip Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin back into the Republican column.

It could even bring Nevada into play for a GOP nominee for the first time since 2004.

However, Trump is facing a number of legal challenges which could threaten to derail his campaign altogether.

James Johnson, who headed up polling in Downing Street under Theresa May and is now based in New York, told GB News earlier this month: “This only helps Trump and it galvanises his base.

"But even people who are sceptical of Trump, including independents, have become sympathetic with him on this question.

“Fortunately, for the nature of US political conversation, and the heat of the polarisation, the 14th Amendment basically says that you require Congress to disqualify someone, and the state courts can't just do it on their own. I think it will almost certainly be reversed.”

However, Johnson added: “It's the big unknown if Trump is convicted. It’s hard to see how it doesn't affect his poll standings.

"I did focus groups with pretty die-hard Republicans in New Hampshire back in the autumn.

"Two people who were pretty pro-Trump and very pro-Republican in that group said, ‘How can you have a President who's in prison?’

“That wasn't an anti-Trump argument. It was just a sort of common sense argument.

"They want a President, including Trump, to be there and to be getting things done and to be sorting out the woke stuff and growing the economy, doing things they want to do in the name of America.”

GB News has approached Haley’s campaign for comment.