Donald Trump wins Michigan over Nikki Haley in Republican nomination race

Former President Donald Trump has claimed victory in Michigan, edging him closer to a historic rematch with President Joe Biden in November’s election.

Donald Trump has won Michigan’s Republican primary election, marking the fifth straight victory for the former president and delivering a major blow to Nikki Haley.

The Associated Press called the race for Trump over the former South Carolina governor Haley at 9pm local time, moving him closer to a historic rematch with President Biden in November’s election.

Michigan will be a key battleground state in this northern autumn, so primary results will be analysed for what they might forecast.

It comes as Trump crushed his final challenger for the Republican presidential nomination in her home state, a victory that keeps him on track to be the party’s candidate by the middle of March.

As soon as the polls closed in the South Carolina primary on Saturday (local time), US media outlets called the contest for the former president, forecasting that he would defeat the state’s ex-governor Nikki Haley even before any votes were counted.

“This is a fantastic evening, it’s an early evening. You can celebrate for about 15 minutes and then we have to get back to work,” Mr Trump said, adding that he wished November’s election would come sooner so he could tell US President Joe Biden: “You’re fired, get out.”

But Ms Haley refused to drop out of the race and “kiss the ring” of Mr Trump, arguing Republicans need to move on from their controversial leader if they want to defeat Mr Biden.

Donald Trump at an election night watch party at the state fairgrounds in Columbia, South Carolina. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Trump lost control of his real estate empire this month in a stunning civil fraud case in which he was fined $US454m ($A692m). Next month, he will face the first of four criminal trials as he fights off 91 charges including over his effort to overturn his 2020 election loss.

“I don’t believe Donald Trump can beat Joe Biden,” Ms Haley said after polling about 40 per cent of the votes in South Carolina.

“I know 40 per cent is not 50 per cent, but I also know that 40 per cent is not some tiny group. There are huge numbers of voters in our Republican primaries who are saying they want an alternative.”

With another 21 primaries in the next 10 days, Ms Haley added: “They have the right to a real choice, not a Soviet-style election with only one candidate, and I have a duty to give them that choice.”

Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. Picture: Getty Images

While Ms Haley has recently sharpened her attacks on the former president, who she once served as his ambassador to the United Nations, Mr Trump has retained a dominant lead in his bid to set up a rematch with Mr Biden in November.

His campaign advisers predicted he would have enough delegates to clinch the nomination over Ms Haley sometime between March 12 and March 19.

As voters cast their ballots in South Carolina on Saturday, Mr Trump gave a rambling 90-minute speech – which did not mention Ms Haley – at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, before he said he had to go to “the place I’m supposed to be”.

He cast himself as a “proud political dissident” and this year’s presidential election as “our new liberation day”.

Nikki Haley casts her ballot in the South Carolina Republican primary. Picture: Getty Images

“For the liars and cheaters and fraudsters and censors and impostors who have commandeered our government, it will be judgement day,” Mr Trump said.

“The unprecedented success of the United States of America will be my ultimate and absolute revenge.”

Ms Haley finished third in the Iowa caucuses and then lost to Mr Trump by 11 percentage points in the New Hampshire primary, later saying that the result in South Carolina – the state she led from 2011 to 2017 – “certainly has to be better” than that.

In Nevada earlier this month, where Mr Trump won the party’s caucuses, Ms Haley participated in a separate state primary and had her vote tally embarrassingly doubled by the category for “none of these candidates” which was selected by more than 47,000 people.

On Saturday, as she voted with her mother, Ms Haley dodged questions about how she would judge her performance in South Carolina, saying only that she wanted to be “competitive”.

TRUMP’S VICTORY A SIGN OF WHAT’S TO COME

Last Tuesday, staring down the barrel of a humiliating defeat in her home state, Nikki Haley alerted journalists to a major speech she was about to deliver.

This was it, some thought – Donald Trump’s last remaining rival for the Republican presidential nomination was dropping out of the race even before it reached South Carolina.

Instead, Haley did the opposite. She explained why she was staying in a contest that was essentially over weeks ago, and took on the former president more aggressively than ever.

As far as a last-ditch pitch to voters in the state she led for six years,

Donald Trump’s victory keeps him on track to be the party’s candidate by the middle of March. Picture: AFP

it obviously didn’t work. Trump still romped to victory on Saturday night (local time).

But it offered an interesting insight into what lies ahead in the weeks to come, with Trump’s team expecting him to officially lock up the nomination by the middle of March.

“I’m campaigning every day until the last person votes,” Haley declared, saying she was fighting “for something bigger” than herself.

“I feel no need to kiss the ring … I have no fear of Trump’s retribution. I’m not looking for anything from him. My own political future is of zero concern.”

Her attacks on Trump have assured that she will not be his vice presidential pick, and it is hard to imagine either of them wanting her to play any role in a future Trump administration.

So perhaps Haley is banking on his unprecedented legal peril bringing him down in time for the Republican Party to change course. Alternatively, she could be positioning herself for 2028, ready to say “I told you so” if Trump loses to Biden in November.

Maybe she genuinely worries about the implications of Trump winning, especially given how his pro-Russia rhetoric clashes with her support for Ukraine.

Or perhaps she is fighting on simply because she can afford to. Haley may have no chance of beating Trump – but she still raised more money than him last month.

Originally published as Donald Trump wins Michigan over Nikki Haley in Republican nomination race