Nikki Haley sets her sights on 2028 presidential run

Her almost total Super Tuesday wipe-out makes it almost certain the former UN envoy will soon drop out of the race.

Nikki Haley addresses supporters in Fort Worth, Texas. Picture: AFP

What now for Nikki Haley? Don­ald Trump’s crushing Super Tuesday win over his last opponent makes it almost certain the former South Carolina governor will soon drop out of the Republican presidential race.

But Ms Haley, who on Tuesday added tiny Vermont to her weekend win in Washington DC, has positioned herself to be the default Republican choice if the former president gets derailed by his legal problems in the coming months.

She has also set herself up to be potentially a major contender for the White House in 2028.

In the short term, Ms Haley, who was Mr Trump’s ambassador to the UN, must make some key decisions.

The first is how long she keeps running against Mr Trump when it is now beyond doubt he will win the required number of delegates to become Republican presidential nominee.

Ms Haley may drop out as soon as Thursday, given the fact Mr Trump dominated the Super Tuesday contest. Mr Trump is on course to reach the threshold of delegates needed to clinch the nomination within weeks, and it seems inconceivable Ms Haley would continue to run at that point.

Mr Trump has been angered by Ms Haley’s refusal to withdraw when all his other opponents did, accusing her of hurting and dividing the Republican Party for no reason.

Ms Haley has said she has stayed in the race to give voters a choice. “Sixteen states and territories are going to vote. God bless America that we get to do that. And then we’re going to take it from there. That’s what we’ve always said,” she said hours before the vote.

The more important question is whether she will back Mr Trump once she withdraws. At the start of her campaign, she promised to back him if he became the nominee but more recently she has backed away from that, saying she was not bound to support him.

The battle between them has been increasingly personal and bruising, with both lashing out, Mr Trump repeatedly dismissing her as a “birdbrain” and her portraying him as a tantrum-prone toddler.

Ms Haley has already ruled out being drafted as Mr Trump’s vice-presidential choice and it is unclear how well they might be able to repair their relationship.

On Tuesday, Ms Haley ruled out growing speculation that she might run as an independent in the November election. “What I will tell you is I’m a conservative Republican. I have said many, many times I would not run as an independent. I would not run as No Labels because I am a Republican, that’s who I’ve always been,” she said.

If Ms Haley did choose to run as an independent, she would split the Republican vote and almost certainly guarantee Joe Biden would defeat Mr Trump. That would also cruel any presidential ambitions she might have.

Yet her campaign has seen her win roughly between 20 per cent and 45 per cent of the GOP vote, which shows that a sizeable chunk of Republicans do not want Mr Trump as the nominee.

It also shows that Ms Haley has electoral appeal and a profile that sets her up well for a presidential run in 2028 when she won’t have to run against a maverick MAGA-magnet like the former president.

So although Mr Haley has lost this contest, she has stamped herself as the next most likely Republican once the Trump era is over. She is only 52 years old, representing the generational change that many Americans are calling for, so she is likely to remain a major player in US politics in the years ahead.