Donald Trump Finds His Next Target

Donald Trump is suggesting that Nikki Haley and not Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may become his major rival for the GOP presidential nomination.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor who cut her tenure short to become Trump's U.N. ambassador, initially said she would not challenge the former president. But she changed her mind by jumping into the race on February 14, becoming Trump's first opponent.

DeSantis declared his candidacy in May and instantly was perceived as Trump's top challenger. While he is still viewed by many as Republicans' best alternative to Trump, Haley's poll numbers have risen in early primary states like New Hampshire following her performances in two GOP debates.

"Fox has totally given up on Ron DeSanctimonious, and is on their next 'journey' pushing Nikki 'Birdbrain' Haley, who stated loudly and often that 'President TRUMP was a GREAT President, and I would NEVER run against him," Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social. "Well, so much for that!"

He went on: "Fox & Friends just put on a hand picked Haley acolyte who absolutely gushed Birdbrain. It was really something to behold, so obvious and lame. Oh well, we took out Ron, a far less talented person than people originally believed, Crooked Joe is down to 'us' by 11 Points, and now we have to focus on one of the most overrated people I know, Nikki.

"This reminds me of 2016 all over again, when Globalist Murdoch pushed Jeb, and all others, as they fell like flies," Trump said.

Following Haley's announcement of her candidacy, Trump told Jenna Ellis—a former senior legal adviser to Trump who, along with the former president and 17 others, was indicted in Georgia in that state's 2020 election interference case—that he stuck out his neck for people like DeSantis and expected loyalty in return.

"To me, loyalty is a very important word but you can look at Nikki Haley.... She said, 'I would never run against our president,'" Trump said at the time. "[Haley and DeSantis] have to do what they have to do. It's OK."

On the same day Haley announced, Trump spoke about how far ahead of his Republican opponents he was. Depending on the poll, he has led the GOP presidential field by between 40 and 50 points.

Haley has been one of the few Republican candidates, along with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, to admonish Trump during debates and on the campaign trail. Others have mostly refrained from going down that path for fear of alienating Trump's voter base.

Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign via email for comment.

Kirk Randazzo, a professor of political science and department chair at the University of South Carolina, told Newsweek that the days of DeSantis being considered as Trump's main challenger are essentially over because of Haley's ascent and positive debate performances.

"That has given a lot of room for someone like Nikki Haley to sort of step into that void. That, combined with her performance in both debates, has really got people thinking about her as a potential alternative [to Trump]," Randazzo said.

He characterized Haley as a "smart and savvy politician" whose rise in the GOP ranks has been long in the making, ever since she defeated South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer and state Attorney General Henry McMaster in the 2010 gubernatorial primary.

Haley, a former state representative, governed with a steady hand that was grounded in principle, Randazzo said, and recognized the importance of working with a broad segment of legislators to achieve pragmatic results.

"Her demographics, being the only female, being of Indian-American descent—that gives her maybe a bit more authority to speak on issues that the white male candidates are trying to talk about but come at it from a different place," he said.

But the issue is time. Trump still leads DeSantis, Haley and the rest by enormous numbers, and Republican voters start going to the polls in January.

It's essentially now or never for GOP candidates to execute a more pointed strategy targeting Trump, Randazzo said, including why he should not and cannot get into the White House, as "that's their best argument for electability."

Playing a long game and waiting for the outcomes of the former president's indictments is not prudent. Instead, candidates like Haley need to educate conservative voters on the perils of Trump's national election prospects and the present discord and chaos in the House, particularly after Kevin McCarthy's ouster as speaker.

That translates to Haley starting to spend campaign dollars for ads directed at Trump as well as voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina," he added.

"She's got to place in the top two in at least one [state], and probably all three of those states, in order for the larger donors who are still sitting sidelines to say, 'Hey, I need to give money to Nikki Haley," Randazzo said.