Donald Trump is set to be the Republican candidate for president as his last remaining rival Nikki Haley is due to pull out of the race, NBC News reports.
A source familiar with Haley’s plans has confirmed to Sky News’s partner NBC that she will exit the race later this morning.
It means Mr Trump is heading for what is almost certainly going to be a November showdown with the man who beat him in the 2020 election: Democrat Joe Biden.
Haley, a 52-year-old former South Carolina governor, had pitched herself as a solid conservative and a younger alternative to Trump, who is 77.
Image: Donald Trump at a Super Tuesday election night party. Pic: AP
She had also been seen as the choice for Republicans tired of Trump’s ongoing legal issues – he faces four criminal cases, including over efforts to reverse the 2020 election result and his handling of national security documents.
But Haley failed to reach Republican voters, losing the first five nominating contests and all but one of the primaries on Super Tuesday.
Mr Trump and Mr Biden each won California, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Maine, Oklahoma, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota and Massachusetts.
Mr Biden also won the Democratic primaries in Utah, Vermont and Iowa. The only contest he lost on Tuesday was the Democratic caucus in American Samoa, a tiny US territory in the South Pacific Ocean.
Image: Joe Biden at a campaign stop in Michigan in February. Pic: AP
Haley’s only win of the night came in Vermont – denying Mr Trump a full sweep.
But the former president carried other states that might have been favourable to her such as Virginia, Massachusetts and Maine, which have large swathes of moderate voters like those who have backed her in previous primaries.
Haley was ambassador to the United Nations for almost two years under Trump’s presidency and when she resigned, he called her a “very special” person.
In recent months on the campaign trail, however, he changed his tune.
He used her background as a daughter of Indian immigrants as ammunition for racist attacks, and he amplified false claims about her eligibility for the White House, despite her having been born in South Carolina.
She fought back, describing him as “unhinged”, saying he is too chaotic and divisive to be an effective president, and criticising his admiration for dictators such as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Spotify
This content is provided by Spotify, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spotify cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spotify cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spotify cookies for this session only.
The entire East Wing of the White House will be demolished “within days” – much more bulldozing than initially expected for Donald Trump’s new ballroom construction project.
Two Trump administration officials told Sky News’ US partner NBC that the demolition is a significant expansion of the initial plans announced this summer.
“It won’t interfere with the current building,” Mr Trump had said on 31 July. “It’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”
Image: Rubble is piled higher and higher as demolition continues on the East Wing. Pic: AP
But a White House official told NBC News the “entirety” of the East Wing would eventually be “modernised and rebuilt”.
“The scope and the size of the ballroom project have always been subject to vary as the process develops,” the official added.
The East Wing was built at the beginning of the last century and was last modified in 1942.
Image: Trump shows off an artist’s impressions of his new ballroom. Pic:AP
Construction on the ballroom – which is expected to hold up to 900 people when finished – began this week.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit agency created by Congress to help preserve historic buildings, warned administration officials in a letter on Tuesday that the planned ballroom “will overwhelm the White House itself”.
“We respectfully urge the administration and the National Park Service (stewards of the White House) to pause demolition until plans for the proposed ballroom go through the legally required public review processes,” Carol Quillen, the trust’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Image: Windows of the complex could be seen being torn down. Pic: Reuters
‘Fake news’
The White House called the uproar “manufactured outrage” by “unhinged leftists and their fake news allies” in a statement.
Last week, Mr Trump said the total price would be about $250m (£187m), which would be paid for by himself and private donors will pay for. However, on Wednesday, he said the ballroom’s price is “about $300m (£225m)”.
The 90,000 sq ft ballroom will dwarf the White House itself – and would be able to accommodate almost five times more guests than the East Room, the largest current space in the mansion.
Mr Trump says the ballroom won’t cost US taxpayers at all. Instead, “donors” would pay for it.
Comcast, the parent company of Sky News, was included on a list of top donors released last week – but it is unclear how much it or others have contributed.
A former world chess champion is being investigated over his public attacks on US grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, who died suddenly this week aged 29.
Russian player Vladimir Kramnik is facing disciplinary proceedings over repeated accusations against Mr Naroditsky.
He was found dead at his home earlier in North Carolina, and the cause has not been made public.
Image: Vladimir Kramnik. Pic: AP
Mr Naroditsky’s supporters claim he had been “bullied relentlessly online” by Mr Kramnik, with some calling for him to be banned from the game.
Mr Kramnik has accused a number of players of cheating in online games – and first voiced “concerns” about Mr Naroditsky’s play last year, leading to an ongoing feud between the pair.
The 50-year-old routinely posted online about his younger rival, calling for an investigation into his play and at times appearing to threaten legal action.
In an October 2024 interview, Mr Naroditsky characterised Mr Kramnik’s efforts as “a sustained, evil and absolutely unhinged attempt to destroy my life”.
More from World
Now, following the announcement of Mr Naroditsky’s death on Monday, the international chess federation (FIDE) has referred Mr Kramnik’s behaviour to its ethics and disciplinary commission.
Image: Naroditsky was a popular chess streamer on YouTube and Twitch. Pic: AP
FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement: “I, along with the FIDE management board, will formally refer all relevant public statements made by GM (grandmaster) Vladimir Kramnik – both before and after the tragic death of GM Daniel Naroditsky – to the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission for independent consideration.”
Mr Kramnik has denied wrongdoing, and claims he has also been bullied by members of the chess community – as well as receiving death threats.
He told Reuters: “What public statement after the death of Daniel was incorrect? … I have not bullied Daniel Naroditsky, nor ever made personal insults towards him.”
But prominent chess players have condemned Mr Kramnik’s conduct – with former world champion Magnus Carlsen describing his treatment of Mr Naroditsky as “horrible”.
Meanwhile, Indian grandmaster Nihal Sarin said the retired player “needs to pay for what he’s doing”.
Mr Naroditsky was one of America’s most recognisable chess figures and a former world youth champion.
At just 14 years old, he had written and published a book on the game – and in later years, educated followers through livestreams on Twitch and YouTube.
Mr Naroditsky denied cheating and appeared visibly distressed in his final Twitch broadcast last weekend, where he referred to the toll the controversy had taken on him, according to the now-deleted video.