Former US President Donald Trump has finally secured the Republican Party’s presidential nomination by winning a majority of delegates to the Republican National Convention in July.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Trump crossed the 1,215-delegate threshold on Tuesday night, winning contests in Georgia, Mississippi, Hawaii and Washington after nearly sweeping the Super Tuesday states a week earlier.
As the first candidate to enter the Republican primaries, Trump enjoyed frontrunner status throughout the campaign and his eventual nomination seemed inevitable as he dominated the polls and then the primaries.
Trump’s last remaining rival, Nikki Haley, withdrew from the race last week after only winning contests in Washington, D.C. and Vermont.
It now seems certain that the race will pit Trump against President Joe Biden, who secured his party’s nomination on Tuesday.
Trump is currently leading in both national polls in recent months, but lags behind Biden in fundraising.
Haley has yet to endorse Trump, and at least some of her supporters have told pollsters they will not back Trump in November.
But influential donors and party leaders are already lining up behind the former president. On Friday, members of the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced Trump as the party’s presumptive nominee. The committee also endorsed Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as co-chair.
Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita is leading the RNC, along with other Trump staff.
Republicans will meet in Milwaukee on 15-18 July, where Trump will be formally nominated. Trump’s delegates are bound by RNC rules to support him on the first ballot for the nomination.
