Ron DeSantis endorses Trump, halts 2024 U.S. presidential run

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Ron DeSantis, once viewed as Republicans' best shot at moving past Donald Trump, ended his White House bid on Sunday two days before the New Hampshire primary, leaving Nikki Haley as the former U.S. president's sole challenger for their party's nomination.

"It's clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance," DeSantis, 45, said in a video posted to X, throwing his support to Trump.

"He has my endorsement because we can't go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear: a re-packaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents," the Florida governor added.

That leaves Haley, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, as the last Republican in the race trying to deny Trump the nomination. The winner of this year's Republican nominating contests will take on President Joe Biden, the likely Democratic nominee, in the general election in November.

At a Haley campaign event in Seabrook, New Hampshire, as the state's voters prepare to head to the polls for the primary on Tuesday, the former South Carolina governor drew cheers when she announced that DeSantis had dropped out.

"For now, I'll leave you with this: May the best woman win," Haley said.

One advantage to Haley is that Republican donors now have only a single candidate to support if they want to try and stop Trump, potentially allowing her to campaign beyond the Feb. 24 primary in her home state of South Carolina.

But at the end of the day, Trump may be gaining the most.

In New Hampshire, about two-thirds of DeSantis supporters cite Trump as their second choice, said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

Moreover, another critic