Manchester, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump aims to sew up the Republican presidential nomination after the contest narrowed to a two-horse race with Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ withdrawal less than 48 hours before the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.

Short of a defeat in the Granite State, or a close second-place for his remaining rival Nikki Haley, the timeline to Trump’s nomination as the candidate to face President Joe Biden in November could be greatly accelerated.

The ex-president won a crushing victory over DeSantis in Iowa last week, with Haley trailing in third, and no candidate has ever failed to claim the Republican crown after taking the two opening states.

That makes New Hampshire make-or-break for Haley, Trump’s one-time UN ambassador, who trails her former boss in polling for what is seen as her strongest state.

Trump, 77, has ramped up attacks on Haley over the last week, calling her “not smart enough” and claiming that she had not earned the respect of voters.

He assailed her again Sunday and praised DeSantis as a “very capable person” as he accepted the governor’s endorsement in front of cheering supporters.

“Without the endorsement I think we would have got all of those votes,” he said to raucous applause at his campaign headquarters in Manchester.

“Because we have very similar policies — strong borders, great education, low taxes, very, very few regulations, as few as possible — things that (Haley) really doesn’t talk about, because she’s a globalist.”

Haley had earlier taken aim at the front-runner’s mental acuity after he confused her with veteran Democrat Nancy Pelosi during a rally.

“He’s just not at the same level he was at 2016. I think we’re seeing some of that decline. But more than that, what I’ll say is focus on the fact that no matter what it is, chaos follows him,” she told CBS.

WITH AFP