Early estimates: Trump secures New Hampshire primary victory over Nikki Haley

It deals a significant setback to his rival Nikki Haley, bringing Trump closer to clinching his party's nomination and setting the stage for a historic 2020 rematch with incumbent President Joe Biden.

New Hampshire: As the counting begins in New Hampshire, early trends have projected former US President Donald Trump to win the New Hampshire GOP primary, The Hill reported, citing Decision Desk HQ.

This comes as a major blow to his rival Nikki Haley and puts Trump one step closer to securing his party’s nomination and getting a historic 2020 rematch with incumbent President Joe Biden.

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The Hill showed Trump leading with 53.8 per cent votes and Haley trailing at 45.5 per cent with 26 per cent of the votes counted.

According to CNN, after 15 per cent of votes counted, Trump leads with 53.1 per cent votes and 11 delegates, while Haley has 45.4 per cent votes and eight delegates.

The New York Times, on the other hand, has shown Trump winning the primary by securing 52.5 per cent of votes and 11 delegates, while Haley managing 46.6 per cent votes and six delegates.

Trump’s win in the Granite State is especially damaging to Haley because she had invested much of her time and resources in the state, even notching the endorsement of popular Governor Chris Sununu, as per The Hill.

Polling at one point showed Haley trailing Trump by just single digits.

Earlier, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pulled out of the White House race and endorsed Trump — leaving Haley as Trump’s sole remaining major challenger.

The former UN ambassador faced pressure to perform well in New Hampshire after being a close third in Iowa to DeSantis, who dropped out just days before the first-in-the-nation primary.

But polling in recent days showed Haley facing a tough hill to climb in toppling Trump, with a polling average of New Hampshire surveys from Decision Desk HQ and The Hill showing Trump at 51 per cent and Haley at 37 per cent.

Trump was also further buoyed by former rivals coalescing around him. Just before the Iowa GOP caucus, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum endorsed Trump. Sen. Tim Scott and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy also endorsed him ahead of the Granite State primary, The Hill reported.

Haley only received a few endorsements from former candidates, including former Rep. Will Hurd and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.

Trump’s win in New Hampshire raises questions around whether Haley will continue her primary challenge heading into her home state of South Carolina, as both wins underscore Trump’s dominance in the party and as the next early voting nominating contests offer an almost impossible runaway for Haley, as reported by The Hill.

However, Haley’s campaign signalled before the New Hampshire primary that it would compete in South Carolina. AdImpact also noted that her campaign placed ad reservations in the Palmetto State that would run beginning on Thursday.