A new dynamic is taking place in the presidential election as the campaigns of both Donald Trump and Nikki Haley move into a one-on-one battle as the New Hampshire race moves into the next phase of what is expected to be a competitive race.
It can get ugly quickly.
Team Trump is poised to unleash a level of vitriol it has never seen against former UN ambassador Haley, according to a number of the former president’s advisers and allies.
“Nikki has to go while people are still talking about him in 2028, or he’s going to end up like all the 2016s that nobody thinks of as future presidents,” said a Trump campaign adviser. “A protracted land war will cost us money, but Nicky will cost her reputation and image.”
But Haley is also taking a more aggressive stance against Trump, framing the race as a choice between an aging politician mired in old grievances and a new face promising generational change and stability. Although he finished third in Iowa on Monday, he declared the contest a two-man race between himself and Trump.
“[T]The field is virtually down to two candidates, with only Trump and Nikki Haley having significant support in both New Hampshire and South Carolina,” Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney said in response to the Iowa results.
A person with knowledge of the Haley campaign’s thinking said: “She is very defensive of her record and compares it to drama, chaos, vindictiveness and dysfunction. Now that it’s a two-man race, I think this contrast becomes clearer.”
Haley is expected to launch a counterattack against Trump while touting her policy similarities, noting that she respects him as his appointee and once applauded his ability to blow up business as usual.
New Hampshire will mark a change for Haley. In Iowa, he trained much of his firepower on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the two battled for second place — well behind Trump. A person close to the campaign said his only focus right now is on Trump, with Haley viewing the race as a two-person contest because of his recent surge in the state. Haley is regularly second to Trump in New Hampshire, according to polls one shows him only 7 points behind.
Indeed, Haley’s post-caucus remarks Monday night took aim at Trump, whom she has repeatedly compared to President Joe Biden, saying the two are “about” 80 years old and have added trillions of dollars to the national debt.
“Trump and Biden both have no vision for the future of our country because they are both consumed by the past, investigations, revenge, grievances,” he said. “Americans deserve better.”
On Monday, Trump called his opponents “very smart people, very capable people.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s worldwide attack is expected from Trump, who has branded Haley as liberal and anti-MAGA, both through ads and directly on social media. (Haley’s campaign applauded Monday, noting that the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc. Mailed to New Hampshire (which painted him as a supporter of the MAGA agenda.) The super PAC has focused exclusively on Haley in recent weeks, charge in an ad he was “too weak—too liberal” to fix the border.“
One Trump campaigner advised observers to expect Trump to go more directly to Haley and “make sure he and others in New Hampshire and South Carolina understand the gulf that separates him from the core of our party.”
All the tough talk comes after Trump has already stepped up his attack on Haley. as surveys show him He wins it in New Hampshire. He called Haley a “globalist RINO.” About Truth Social on Monday (ie “Republican in name only”). At an event in Iowa this month, he alluded to old, unsubstantiated claims that Haley was having an affair. It has spread false birth theories about Haley whose parents immigrated from India and he mocked him as “bird brain”.
“Nikki Haley is a fictional character who is not ready for the bright lights or the big stage,” Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, told NBC News. “The more people learn about Haley’s Romneyesque, open border and tax-raising globalist RINO ways, the less likely they will be to support.”
Haley got some air cover. Haley Stand for America PAC, a pro-American group in New Hampshire, has aired television programs directly refuting Trump. including one he says he’s targeting Haley because she’s a demonstrated threat. else, Called “Tantrum”. He targets Trump more aggressively and says his entire campaign is “based on revenge.”
How Haley handles Trump’s attacks — both incoming and outgoing — in the next phase of the campaign could be vital to her political survival.
Ahead of the Iowa caucuses, Haley refrained from being too harsh on Trump. In public speeches, he has been careful to say that he supports many of Trump’s policies and that he is the “right president at the right time.” He also said he would pardon him if he is convicted of any of the pending criminal charges. But he regularly adds that “chaos follows him” and the country is ready for someone who can “make things right” as well as break them.
But as Iowa drew to a close, Haley said she was in a rush for the Trump fight. His campaign on Monday morning made an announcement In New Hampshire, Trump and Biden were lumped together as unlikable and short-sighted.
“The two most unpopular politicians in America? Trump and Biden,” says the speaker. “Both are consumed by chaos, negativity and grievances from the past.”
In Iowa, a digital stain The morning of the caucuses trolled Trump and his claim that he would win by 60 points.
But when it comes to bashing Trump, Haley faces the same box of tricks as any opponent Trump has faced: Being anti-Trump earns the stamp but risks alienating some of the core voters needed to win the nomination.
“Like it or not, Republican voters don’t want to hear how bad Donald Trump is. They’ve been hearing this for eight years from Democrats and the media,” said New Hampshire Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett. “There’s nothing you can say to a Trump voter that will surprise them.”
Bartlett said Haley would be better off defending his record, appealing to non-college-educated voters and leaning on the electability message that’s a common theme in his stump speeches. At public events Haley a According to a Wall Street Journal survey he would beat Biden by 17 points in the general election, and characterized such a victory as a mandate that could push Republicans down the polls.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has warned that his failure to demonstrate that he can stand up to Trump could be at its own peril. Christie ripped Haley at an event in New Hampshire last week for not following through on a promise to pardon Trump.
“It’s a grind you don’t want to have to endure,” Christie said before leaving the race. “He’s just saying that because he thinks it will make some voters who like Trump more comfortable with him. This is not what we are looking for. This is not what we should be defending.”
If Trump’s attack really gets particularly nasty, Haley has shown she can step up, allies say, pointing to her controversial 2010 run for governor of South Carolina.
“I’ve always thought that Nikki is at her best when she counters, when she counters, when she defends her position,” said South Carolina Republican Senator Tom Davis, who has known Haley for 20 years.
Personal attacks on Haley have backfired in the past, strategists said.
“When people attack you and your family with politically motivated lies and you fight them honestly, honestly, and you don’t hide from the questions — all the pieces of how Nicky handled the attacks, people can relate to that,” Rob Godfrey said. A communications strategist who worked on the opposing campaign for Haley during the 2010 gubernatorial primary in South Carolina and after she won the nomination.
“They appreciate the transparency and the vulnerability you show when they see you call for it, but also protect your loved ones, and that becomes something that endears you to voters,” he added. “They feel they can trust you more.”