Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump.
The surprise video announcement came ahead of this week’s New Hampshire Republican primary, where the Florida governor was polling in the single digits.
Once considered a strong contender for the nomination, Ron DeSantis said he did not “have a clear path to victory”.
In response, Nikki Haley said she was now the “only one” able to beat President Joe Biden.
Ron DeSantis said his campaign “left it all out on the field” in a nearly five-minute long video announcement on X, formerly Twitter.
“If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome – more campaign stops, more interviews – I would do it,” the governor said, as he ended his seven-month campaign.
Ron DeSantis added that he was endorsing the former president because it had “become clear” that “a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance”.
While Ron DeSantis acknowledged “disagreements” with Donald Trump, he said he is “superior to the current incumbent, Joe Biden”.
Speaking to voters in New Hampshire, Donald Trump said his campaign had “got some word that one of our opponents, a very capable person, is dropping out”.
“In doing so, [Ron DeSantis] endorsed us,” the former president added, to loud cheers in the room.
He went on to say that he believed “most of” Ron DeSantis’ votes, “or certainly many of them”, would go to his campaign – but added “we don’t need them”.
After Ron DeSantis’ announcement, Trump’s campaign called “for all Republicans to rally behind President Trump” and slammed Nikki Haley as “the candidate of the globalists and Democrats who will do everything to stop the America First movement”.
Ron DeSantis also took a swipe at Ms Haley, calling her a member of “the old Republican guard of yesteryear – a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism”.
Nikki Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN, responded by insisting she is the conservative – the “only one” – who can beat President Joe Biden.
Ron DeSantis narrowly finished ahead of Nikki Haley in last week’s Iowa caucus with 21% of the vote, compared to her 19%. Donald Trump received 51% of the vote.
Voters begin to arrive at caucus locations – schools, churches and small event spaces – ahead of a 19:00 local start time (20:00 ET).
Voters are braving temperatures as low as -23C (-9F) after winter storms blanketed the state in snow and ice.
Iowa is the first major state-wide vote to decide who will be the Republican. presidential candidate for the 2024 election.
There will be over 1,600 caucus sites across Iowa’s 99 counties, and all will be reporting the results of their vote to the state’s Republican Party officials as quickly as possible.
Donald Trump has consistently posted big leads over his nearest rivals in Iowa.
The most recent poll of Iowans who were likely to caucus had Trump at 48%, ahead of Nikki Haley with 20% and Ron DeSantis with 16%.
The candidates have been urging their supporters to brave the weather, with Donald Trump saying: “Even if you vote and then pass away, it’s worth it.”
The Haley campaign says it expects a “strong” result in Iowa, while Ron DeSantis claims sturdy support among “bed-rock” conservatives.
The Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis campaigns and their political action committees (which raise and spend money to elect and defeat candidates) have altogether spent nearly $90 million on ads in Iowa.
Of these, Haley’s campaign and the pro-Haley Stand 4 America Fund PAC have spent the most, totalling about $36 million. The DeSantis campaign and various affiliated PACs follow closely behind with about $35 million spent.
Donald Trump – the distant front-runner in the race – his campaign and the MAGA Inc PAC have spent far less, totalling about $18 million.
Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson also remain in the contest, but are not expected to garner significant support.
The US has urged the world to cut diplomatic and trade ties with North Korea following its latest ballistic missile test.
Speaking at the UN Security Council, US envoy Nikki Haley said President Donald Trump had asked his Chinese counterpart to cut off oil supplies to Pyongyang.
Nikki Haley said the US did not seek conflict but that North Korea’s regime would be “utterly destroyed” if war broke out.
The warning came after North Korea tested its first missile in two months.
North Korea said the missile fired on November 29, which it said reached an altitude of about 2,780 miles – more than 10 times the height of the International Space Station – carried a warhead capable of re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
The claim was not proven and experts have cast doubt on North Korea’s ability to master such technology.
However, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the launch “impeccable” and a “breakthrough”.
The test – one of several this year – has been condemned by the international community and the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting.
Nikki Haley warned that “continued acts of aggression” were only serving to further destabilize the region.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said sanctions were exhausted.
He told reporters: “The Americans should explain to all of us what they are trying to do – if they want to find a pretext for destroying North Korea they should come clean about it, and the American leadership should confirm it.”
Earlier the Russian UN ambassador said North Korea should stop its missile and nuclear tests but also called on Washington to cancel military exercises with South Korea planned for December as it would “inflame an already explosive situation”.
China also suggested North Korea should stop the tests in return for a halt to US military exercises – a proposal Washington has rejected in the past.
Nikki Haley said on November 29: “We need China to do more.
“President Trump called President Xi this morning and told him that we’ve come to the point where China must cut off the oil for North Korea.
“We know the main driver of its nuclear production is oil,” she said. “The major supplier of that oil is China.”
China is a historic ally and North Korea’s most important trading partner and Pyongyang is thought to be dependent on China for much of its oil supplies.
Also in the day, the White House said that President Trump spoke to his counterpart, Xi Jinping, by phone, urging him to “use all available levers to convince North Korea to end its provocations and return to the path of denuclearization”.
Donald Trump tweeted: “Just spoke to President XI JINPING of China concerning the provocative actions of North Korea. Additional major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled!”
Speaking in Missouri, President Trump derided Kim Jong-un, describing him as a “sick puppy” and “little rocket man”.
Xi Jinping responded by telling Donald Trump it was Beijing’s “unswerving goal to maintain peace and stability in north-east Asia and denuclearize the Korean peninsula”, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
Experts say the height reached by the inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) indicates the US could be within range, although North Korea is yet to prove it has reached its aim of miniaturizing a nuclear warhead.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s navy carried out live-fire naval drills on September 5, warning that if North Korea provoked them “we will immediately hit back and bury them at sea”, reported Yonhap news agency.
It comes a day after South Korea’s military simulated a missile attack on North Korea’s nuclear test site.
Reports suggest North Korea is preparing new test missile launches.
On September 3, North Korea tested a bomb underground, which was thought to have a power range from 50 kilotonnes to 120 kilotonnes. A 50kt device would be about three times the size of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.
Nikki Haley argued that only the strongest sanctions would enable the problem to be resolved through diplomacy.
“War is never something the United States wants,” she said.
“We don’t want it now but our country’s patience is not unlimited.”
China Ambassador to the UN Liu Jieyi reiterated a call for all sides to return to negotiations.
“The peninsula issue must be resolved peacefully,” he said.
“China will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula.”
Donald Trump has unveiled the names of the first women in his incoming administration.
Betsy DeVos has been nominated as education secretary and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley as US envoy to the UN.
Both of them are former critics of Donald Trump, with Nikki Haley once saying she was “not a fan”, and Betsy DeVos branding the Manhattan tycoon an “interloper”.
Donald Trump’s presidential primary rival Ben Carson also hinted he would soon be named for a post.
Ben Carson wrote on Facebook: “An announcement is forthcoming about my role in helping to make America great again.”
Photo AP
Donald Trump tweeted on November 22 that he was “seriously considering” Ben Carson for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The appointments of Nikki Haley and Betsy DeVos will need to be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Donald Trump called Nikki Haley “a proven dealmaker, and we look to be making plenty of deals”.
“She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage,” he added.
Nikki Haley, 44, said she was “moved” to accept the assignment and would stay on as South Carolina governor, pending her congressional confirmation.
During the Republican primaries, Nikki Haley supported Florida Senator Marco Rubio and then Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
She also strongly attacked Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslim immigrants, describing it as “un-American”.
In response, Donald Trump had called her “very weak on illegal immigration” and said people in South Carolina were “embarrassed” by her.
Nikki Haley is the first minority and female governor of South Carolina.
Born Nimrata “Nikki” Randhawa to Indian parents, Nikki Haley was raised in a Sikh household and now identifies as a Christian.
She was praised by members of both parties in 2015 when she ordered the Confederate battle flag to be removed from the grounds of the state capitol.
Betsy DeVos said she was honored to accept her appointment.
The billionaire Republican donor from Michigan once described Donald Trump as an “interloper” who “does not represent the Republican Party”.
Betsy DeVos also contributed to Donald Trump’s rivals – Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush – during the election race.
She previously supported the Common Core education standards that Donald Trump and many conservatives have pilloried.
Donald Trump, however, said Betsy DeVos would be “a brilliant and passionate education advocate”.
Betsy DeVos’ husband is heir to the Amway fortune, with a wealth estimated by Forbes at $5.1 billion.
So far, Donald Trump has appointed Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, Mike Pompeo for CIA director, Reince Priebus for Chief of Staff for his top team.
More announcements are expected after the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley says rainfalls in parts of the state have been higher than at any time “in 1,000 years”, with at least six reported deaths as a result of the floods.
More than 13 inches has fallen in three days in the historic city of Charleston.
Schools will shut on October 5 and several inter-state highways have been closed.
The torrential rains have been made worse by a weather system connected to Hurricane Joaquin in the Caribbean.
Hurricane Joaquin is not expected to hit the eastern US, but the moisture associated with it is contributing to heavy rainfall.
“We haven’t seen this level of rain in the low country in 1,000 years. That’s how big this is,” Governor Nikki Haley said on October 4.
Photo NBC News
Nikki Haley urged residents to stay indoors.
“The water is not safe and a lot of areas across the state where you see this deep water, it’s got bacteria in it. So, stay inside and don’t get in there,” she said.
President Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in South Carolina. The move means state and local authorities can receive federal help to deal with the flooding.
“We have every ambulance in the county out responding to calls. People are being moved from their homes in boats,” Georgetown County spokeswoman Jackie Broach told Reuters.
About 100 people were rescued from their cars on flooded roads on October 3.
In Charleston, many streets have been closed and sandbags have been piled up to keep floodwaters out.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has called for the removal of a Confederate flag from the state capitol’s grounds.
The Confederate flag, emblematic of the south during the US civil war, was embraced by Dylann Roof, the man accused of killing nine people in Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church last week.
Governor Nikki Haley called for the “removal of a symbol that divides us”, and urged the state legislature to act.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans says it will fight attempts to remove it.
Photo EP
The group says it symbolizes their heritage and history, not hate, and offered condolences to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the attack took place.
At a news conference, Nikki Haley acknowledged that point of view but said to many others it was a “deeply offensive symbol of brutal oppression”.
Hours later, Walmart announced it would no longer stock any products that display the Confederation flag.
The Confederate flag was originally the battle flag of the southern states in the American Civil War when they tried to break away to prevent the abolition of slavery.
Only the South Carolina’s state legislature may remove the flag, according to a deal hatched in 2000 when the flag was moved from the capitol’s dome to the memorial where it now stands.
A vote could take place this week and could bring to an end many years of bitter arguing about the prominent location of the flag.
The latest debate over it was prompted by the shooting of nine black worshippers during a bible study group at the church in Charleston.
Suspect Dylann Roof has been pictured holding the Confederate flag.
State leaders have held crisis meetings as they have tried to find a solution but some leading Republicans have called for action.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, has also called for the flag’s removal.
Like Nikki Haley, Lindsey Graham has reversed his position in light of the tragedy.
Others, including the Republican House Majority Leader Jay Lucas and Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley, have also spoken out.
The Emanuel AME Church shooting has reignited an ongoing national debate over race relations.
President Barack Obama weighed in during a recent interview in which he used the N-word to make a point about racism in the US.
Barack Obama will deliver a eulogy at the funeral of one of the men killed – Clementa Pinckney, a personal friend of the president, who was state senator and pastor of the church.
This website has updated its privacy policy in compliance with EU GDPR 2016/679. Please read this to review the updates about which personal data we collect on our site. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our updated policy. AcceptRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
