Nikki Haley looks ahead to South Carolina as Trump warns her potential donors: Highlights

As he watched the Iowa caucus results rolling in from a holding room on the night of Jan. 15, Trump decided to scrap four pages of prepared remarks about what would turn out to be a resounding victory — in which he outdistanced his nearest competitor by more than 30 percentage points.

With sons Don Jr. and Eric on hand, as well as his senior staff, Trump went over the thrust of what he wanted to say and jotted down a few notes — “with the theme of unity,” according to a person who was there and described the scene to NBC News.

When he took the stage that night at his victory party, Trump didn’t mention the rivals looking to deal him an upset a week later in New Hampshire at all. Instead, he focused on contrasting his agenda with the record of Biden, his once and likely future general election opponent. He used the word “we” in nearly every sentence, including the one that embodied his message to Republicans: “We’re going to come together.”

The one Republican who didn’t quite get it: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

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Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign said today that it’s essentially entering the general election phase of the 2024 cycle now that Trump has won New Hampshire’s GOP primary.

“The results out of New Hampshire confirm that Donald Trump has all but locked up the GOP nomination and the election-denying anti-freedom MAGA movement has completed its takeover of the Republican Party,” Biden-Harris campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez told reporters on a media call.

The choice voters face in November is coming into sharp focus, she said: Voters will have to choose between Trump, who she said is “running a campaign of revenge and retribution that threats American democracy,” and Biden and Harris, who are trying to “move the country forward and make life better for working people.”

Biden’s principal deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, said on the call that the primary election cycle so far has shown that Trump is struggling to gain the support of independent voters. Fulks said Trump and Republicans have “blown through major resources” during the GOP primaries, while the Biden-Harris campaign is “scaling up our operation.”

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Trump, the Republican front-runner, secured a double-digit victory in New Hampshire and is looking to unite the party. Despite her decisive loss, Haley insists the race is not over and she is focusing on her home state of South Carolina.

It’s the rematch nobody is looking forward to, the matchup voters say they don’t want. And yet, with nearly 300 days left until Election Day, Biden vs. Trump appears to be what the public is going to get this year, whether it likes it or not.

Whether you are ready to accept that reality depends on which stage of grief you find yourself in. Are you still in denial that these are our choices? Does this potential matchup anger you? Are you, like some major centrist donors in this country, dead set on bargaining your way out of this situation by searching for a third option? Have you vowed to walk away from politics thanks to a bout of depression over this choice?

Or are you at acceptance?

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Haley will be in New York City on Monday and Tuesday for multiple Wall Street fundraisers, according to two campaign sources.

Trump posted to Truth Social that anyone who donates to Haley will be "permanently barred from the MAGA camp." Trump's post did not specify whether he was referring to donations to her campaign or to the pro-Haley political action committee Stand For America.

The chairman of the Arizona GOP resigned today after the release of an audiotape on which he offered Kari Lake, a top Trump ally and a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Arizona, lucrative job opportunities to take a two-year pause from politics.

“He’s got to resign. We can’t have someone who is corrupt and compromised running the Republican Party,” Lake told NBC News yesterday, referring to state chair Jeff DeWit.

DeWit posted a letter on X saying he was resigning “as Lake requested” — while also claiming her people had threatened to release another incriminating tape if he didn’t comply.

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Haley, defiant coming off her NBC News-projected second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary, said tonight that her campaign raised $1 million in the last 24 hours. 

Speaking at a packed rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, Haley said that the money came from “200,000 donors from all 50 states” and that 95% of the donations were “$200 or less.”

Haley was introduced onstage by Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who remains her only congressional endorser. Trump picked up South Carolina endorsements over the past few days from Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Nancy Mace. 

Haley has alluded to her relative lack of endorsements from elected officials, saying last weekend in Epping, New Hampshire, "The elected political class has never liked me, and they will never endorse me, and I don’t want it, because I’m fighting for normalcy."

Biden said he expects a rematch with Trump as he secured the endorsement of the UAW. However, as Kelly O’Donnell reports, Biden faces significant challenges, including low approval ratings.

Haley, a Republican presidential candidate, received 4,695 write-in votes in New Hampshire's Democratic primary, according to the secretary of state’s office.

That comes after a review the “return of votes” that each voting location sent to the office after local election officials conducted their tallies. The totals are subject to change because of cities' or towns' corrections, according to the secretary of state.

Haley received just a few hundred Democratic primary votes less than Marianne Williamson, who was on the primary ballot. The write-ins do not affect Haley's tally in the Republican primary.

"Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker and NBC News national political reporter Steve Kornacki join "TODAY" to break down the results of the New Hampshire primary and Haley’s chances of winning as she vows to stay in the race against Trump.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said today she won't back Trump for president even if he becomes the Republican nominee.

“I do not, at this point. No,” Collins said when asked whether she could imagine endorsing Trump if he wins the nomination.

Collins, a moderate, said that "each senator has to make his or her own decision" about making endorsements in the presidential primary. More than half of Senate Republicans are publicly backing Trump.

A Colorado state representative who is one of Rep. Lauren Boebert's opponents in the GOP primary for a congressional seat announced today that he is resigning as minority leader in the Colorado House.

State Rep. Mike Lynch made the announcement a week after The Denver Post reported that he was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of drunk driving and possession of a firearm while intoxicated.

In his remarks today from the state House floor, Lynch urged members not to “make the mistake that I made” by getting behind the wheel of a car after having had “too much to drink.”

Haley is now taking her campaign to South Carolina. Her challenge is that the path gets harder for her — not easier — after last night’s New Hampshire primary.

In New Hampshire, 51% of GOP primary identified as Republican, compared to a combined 49% who said they were independent (43%) or Democrats (6%), according to the NBC News exit poll. Now compare that with the 82% of self-identified Republicans who participated at last week’s Iowa caucuses. 

And compare it with the coming South Carolina and Super Tuesday contests. The only states that have Republican party IDs close to New Hampshire’s last night — per the 2016 GOP primary exit polls — are Massachusetts and Vermont. Most of the other states showed Republican party IDs in the 60s and 70s back in 2016.

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WASHINGTON — Republican voters are on track to nominate Trump for president for a third successive election cycle, leaving his GOP skeptics in the Senate at various points in the five stages of grief as he marches to the nomination.

Some, like John Cornyn, of Texas, have reached acceptance following Trump’s comfortable victories in Iowa and New Hampshire to kick off the primary campaign.

Cornyn, a former Republican whip, has previously argued that Trump cannot win a 2024 general election because his inability to appeal to voters outside his core base. Now, he’s now one of 30 senators to have endorsed Trump for president.

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Biden handily won the Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire yesterday, despite not being on the ballot.

Two-thirds of all voters in the contest had written in his name as of this afternoon, with votes still being counted, and he won every community that has reported results — with one exception.

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Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, spoke to NBC News this morning about his endorsement of Trump following the former president’s victory in New Hampshire last night, saying, “I think it’s important to unify behind the candidate and I respect the voters’ choice in Iowa and New Hampshire. I think you’ll see that repeated in South Carolina as well.” 

Cornyn added that his preference for Trump’s running mate is Sen. Tim Scott. R-S.C., and that the pair would make “really a good ticket.” 

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also weighed in on the presidential primary, saying, “My advice to the party is let’s try to unite sooner rather than later. It’s going to be a challenge beating the incumbent president, but the sooner we can get behind Trump, the better for the 2024 cycle.” 

Steve Kornacki dives into the results from the New Hampshire primaries to figure out what went wrong for Haley’s campaign and what the outcome could mean for her campaign in coming primary races.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign said last night that the independent candidate had collected the 3,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot in New Hampshire, the second state in which he has met the requisite signature threshold.

“I want to thank our dedicated supporters and volunteers who made this great accomplishment possible,” Kennedy said in a statement released by his campaign. "Democracy is much more than voting. I’m inspired by how enthusiastic people are to collect signatures, create new political parties, and rally for real change. This kind of energy is what will get us onto the ballot in every state and fuel our voter registration and GOTV operation as we head toward Election Day.”

Biden called members of the New Hampshire congressional delegation last night to thank them for their work on his behalf in the primary. 

“He was very appreciative of our write in campaign and inspired by the enthusiasm of N.H. voters,” Rep. Ann McLane Kuster told NBC News. She said she also spoke with Biden ally Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., as he prepares for the upcoming primary in his state.

New Hampshire’s delegation had been among the most critical of Biden for seeking to take away the state’s prized first-in-the-nation Democratic primary, but ultimately put its efforts behind the write-in effort here. One of its motivations was to send a message to the Democratic National Committee about 2028.

Despite Trump’s decisive win in the New Hampshire GOP primary last night, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu argued that results from the primary show that the former president will “have a huge problem” in the November general election.

“Guys, this is all about the general election. We need winners," Sununu, who has endorsed Haley, said in an interview on “Fox and Friends.” "I want to win Senate seats and House seats and governorships. I want my candidate for president to win by double digits.”

Co-host Brian Kilmeade noted that Trump beat Haley by double digits in the Iowa caucuses last week and the New Hampshire primary last night.

“One of the best candidates that I’ve seen in a while if you look at a resume who’s beaten [Haley] by 12 [points in the New Hampshire GOP primary] and you think he’s the weakest candidate?” Kilmeade asked Sununu.

“In the general election against Biden, of course,” Sununu replied.

The United Auto Workers union is expected to endorse Biden as early as today, according to three people familiar with the decision.

Biden will address UAW members at their conference in Washington, D.C., this afternoon, where the endorsement of his 2024 bid will likely come, the sources said. 

Last fall, Biden became the first president to join a picket line when he visited autoworkers outside Detroit who were striking for higher wages and cost-of-living increases. 

Yesterday, Biden and former President Donald Trump both picked up wins in the New Hampshire primaries, victories that could mark the quick end of the primary process and the beginning of the general election.

The UAW endorsement could carry significant political implications because of the influence on voters in Michigan, a critical battleground in the 2024 election. Biden narrowly won the state last cycle.  

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Fresh off the heels of the New Hampshire primary, Haley’s campaign has released two new TV ads in South Carolina, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact.

“Biden? Too old. Trump? Too much chaos. A rematch no one wants," a narrator says in one of the ads. "There’s a better choice for a better America. Her story started right here. America’s youngest governor, a conservative Republican. And boy, did she deliver. Nikki Haley will cut taxes, close the border and defeat the Chinese communist threat. America’s new chapter. Strong and proud."

The ad has so far aired in the Savannah, Georgia, media market, which also covers part of South Carolina.

The second ad is a 15-second spot highlighting her record as a former governor of South Carolina.

"Nikki Haley delivered thousands of jobs, lower taxes, tough immigration laws," a narrator says. "Same old Biden and Trump? Or new conservative leadership?"

Steve Kornacki breaks down the results of the New Hampshire primary.

The Haley-aligned super PAC SFA Fund's lead strategist, Mark Harris, made clear in a call with reporters this morning that both the campaign and the super PAC are “prepared for a long-term battle.”

Harris said the super PAC is planning a multimillion-dollar ad buy in South Carolina in the next couple of days to start off a month of boosting Haley on all platforms in hopes she can grow conservative and Republican support in next month’s primary in her home state. 

Beyond South Carolina, Harris also said they see Michigan as having “good demographics for us” and then listed six Super Tuesday states they think she can do well in: California, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine.

When asked by NBC if he sees moving forward as contingent on success in South Carolina, Harris just said they “need to continue to see growth,” and indicated that has to come mainly from the right rather than from more independents. 

The Biden campaign told reporters this morning that the Republican primary fight is over — as far as they see it at least.

"Donald Trump has all but locked up the Republican nomination," said Julie Chávez Rodríguez, the campaign manager. "It’ll be a choice between two visions for this country that couldn’t be more different."

Biden's campaign has long seen the binary choice between the two men as one that will ultimately favor them with voters, arguing that the president's sagging poll numbers will rebound when people begin to realize Trump is the only Republican option.

Biden

• 1:30 p.m. — Delivers remarks at a political event at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C.

Haley

• 7 p,m. — First-in-the-South rally in North Charleston, South Carolina. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

• 2 p.m. — University of Alabama event in Tuscaloosa.
• 8 p.m. — Private reception in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Haley campaign fired back on Trump’s focus on her during his speech in New Hampshire last night, with a statement pushing the narrative that Trump winning “barely … half of the vote” in two states does not mean that the race is over. 

“Two states have now voted in the presidential race, and Donald Trump barely received half of the vote — not exactly a ringing endorsement for a former president demanding a coronation,” said Haley's communications director, Nachama Soloveichik. “His angry rant was filled with grievances and offered the American people nothing about his vision for our country’s future. This is why so many voters want to move on from Trump’s chaos and are rallying to Nikki Haley’s new generation of conservative leadership.”

In her speech, Haley congratulated Trump on his victory, saying he “earned it,” but vowed to stay in the race, saying her campaign is “just getting started.”

Biden and Trump scored decisive victories yesterday in New Hampshire’s primaries, with both aiming to move confidently into general election mode.

Even so, questions remain, though there are fewer for Democrats. A Biden write-in campaign — he skipped New Hampshire in a conflict over the 2024 primary order — easily defeated an energetic and well-funded challenge from Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota.

On the Republican side, Haley vowed to continue, much to the chagrin of Trump and his allies. She’s going forward with a sharp focus on South Carolina, where she used to be governor — but where Trump is seen as the front-runner.

Here are the biggest takeaways from New Hampshire primary night — from Trump and the future of the Republican Party to the declining influence of local endorsements and more.

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