Republicans scrap plan to name Trump as party nominee before he formally clinches win – after former president rejects idea

The Republican National Committee has pulled a resolution to consider declaring Donald Trump the party’s “presumptive 2024 nominee” before he formally clinches the requisite number of delegates, a person familiar with the decision said.

News of the withdrawal came shortly after Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social site that, while he “greatly” appreciated the notion, he felt, “for the sake of PARTY UNITY, that they should NOT go forward with this plan, but that I should do it the ‘Old Fashioned’ way, and finish the process off AT THE BALLOT BOX”.

The measure, according to a draft obtained on Thursday by The Associated Press, had said it “declares President Trump as our presumptive 2024 nominee for the office of President of the United States and from this moment forward moves into full general election mode welcoming supporters of all candidates as valued members of Team Trump 2024”.

The withdrawal was confirmed by a person familiar with the decision who was not authorised to publicly discuss the proposal and spoke on condition of anonymity.

If approved, the measure would have further solidified Mr Trump’s control of the party at a time when former US United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley is still competing against Mr Trump for the GOP nomination.

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel had earlier signalled her approval for the resolution. On Tuesday, after Ms Haley finished second to Mr Trump in New Hampshire, Ms McDaniel said that while she felt the former ambassador had “run a great campaign”, Republicans “need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is going to be Donald Trump”.

The resolution had been expected to be discussed at the RNC’s winter meeting in Las Vegas next week, even though only two states have voted and the former president had nowhere near the requisite number of delegates to secure the nomination.

Ms Haley’s camp said on Thursday that it wasn’t up to the RNC to decide who the GOP nominee would be.

“Who cares what the RNC says? We’ll let millions of Republican voters across the country decide who should be our party’s nominee, not a bunch of Washington insiders,” said campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas.

The AP has a policy to not refer to any candidate as the “presumptive nominee” until he or she has captured the number of delegates needed to win a majority vote at the national party conventions this summer. The earliest that could happen is March.

But there were no party rules prohibiting the RNC from making such a move. If it had been adopted, it could have given the Republican Party a jump-start on planning a general election matchup with Democratic President Joe Biden, who has begun framing his re-election campaign as a 2020 rematch against Mr Trump.

There was also precedent for the committee to declare a candidate the presumptive nominee before winning the 1,215 requisite delegates to clinch the nomination. Then-RNC Chair Reince Priebus did so with Mr Trump in May 2016.

Despite losing both the Iowa and New Hampshire contests to Mr Trump, Ms Haley has argued that her performance – outlasting all the other Trump rivals – shows the strength of her candidacy.

Mr Trump currently has 32 delegates to Ms Haley’s 17. There is one delegate left to be assigned after the New Hampshire contest.

During a rally on Wednesday in her home state of South Carolina, Ms Haley – its former governor – noted her campaign had brought in more than $1m (€900,000) since her second-place finish in New Hampshire. Mr Trump followed up with a remark that appeared aimed at intimidating her donors.

“Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp,” Trump wrote, using the nickname he has crafted for Ms Haley and the abbreviation for his “Make America Great Again” slogan. “We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!”

Ms Haley’s campaign said on Thursday that it raised an additional $1.2m “after Trump’s unhinged pledge to ‘permanently bar’ any individual who contributed to Haley’s campaign”.

“Donald Trump’s threats highlight the stark choice in this election: personal vendettas or real conservative leadership,” said Haley spokesperson AnnMarie Graham-Barnes.

“Trump’s scheme blew up in his face. The contributions to the Haley campaign are pouring in – proof that people are sick of the drama and are rallying behind Nikki’s vision for a strong and proud America.”

Mr Trump’s dismissal of any Haley donors had no effect on TJ Petrizzo, a former top Capitol Hill staffer and now lobbyist who supports Ms Haley.

“That’s something out of a Godfather movie. Never betray the family? Come on,” he added. “You’ve got to play this through.”

Mr Petrizzo said he understands that some Republicans may be ready to pivot to a Biden-Trump contest, but he notes that there is a lot of time left before a general election.

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