Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has ended his Republican presidential campaign in the United States just before the New Hampshire primaries, endorsing Donald Trump after failing to prove a serious challenger for the White House against the 77-year-old former president.

DeSantis’ decision comes less than two days before the New Hampshire primary, where polls show him trailing front-runner Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” the 45-year-old said in a video posted to X on Sunday.

In the video, DeSantis attacked Haley, long his fiercest rival for the second spot in the primary race, saying Republicans “cannot go back to the old Republican guard of yesterday, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki calls Haley.” represents”.

At a rally Sunday evening in Rochester, New Hampshire, Trump set aside months of criticism and ridicule of DeSantis to praise the governor and said he looked forward to working together to defeat President Joe Biden, the likely Democratic nominee work.

“I just want to thank Ron and congratulate him on a very good job,” Trump said at the beginning of his remarks. “He was very friendly and supported me. I appreciate that and look forward to working with Ron.” Trump described DeSantis as “a really great person.”

Trump accused Haley of forming an “unholy alliance” with liberals, never-Trumpers and so-called RINOs, or Republicans, on behalf of Republicans to try to win the New Hampshire primary.

As DeSantis entered the 2024 presidential race, early primary polls suggested he was in a good position to beat Trump, who is running several court cases among other things, for interfering in the 2020 presidential election.

The Florida governor built a campaign coffers well over $100 million, backed by a significant legislative record Issues that are important to many conservatives such as abortion and the teaching of race and gender issues in schools.

But he failed to make progress and reach voters.

From a high-profile announcement to He lost the Iowa caucuses – which he had vowed to win – by 30 percentage points to Trump, narrowly ahead of Haley.

DeSantis and Haley frequently attacked each other in debates and advertisements, often more directly than Trump.

David Kochel, a Republican strategist who has worked on five presidential campaigns, said DeSantis’ departure is unlikely to change the basic contours of the campaign because his support has declined.

“The race needs a big dynamic shift, and I don’t think DeSantis leaving is that big of a deal because there wasn’t that much going on in New Hampshire, and he didn’t even have that much going on in South Carolina,” said he.

Trump vs. Haley

Polls show Trump with a double-digit lead over Haley in New Hampshire, and his campaign hopes a second straight win will make his nomination all but inevitable.

The former reality TV star’s campaign urged Republicans to rally behind him, dismissing Haley as a “globalist-Democrat candidate.”

“It’s time to vote wisely,” the statement said.

Trump also has a clear lead in South Carolina, where voting takes place on February 24th. A defeat for Haley in her home state — where she was governor from 2011 to 2017 — would likely spell the end of her campaign.

At a campaign rally in Seabrook, New Hampshire, Haley drew cheers when she announced that DeSantis had dropped out.

“For now, I leave it to you: May the best woman win,” she said.

With time running out, Haley has stepped up her attacks on Trump, blaming the former president for Republican election losses in 2020 and 2022 and criticizing his praise for authoritarian leaders.

In a statement, Haley said the U.S. is “not a country of coronations.”

“So far only one state has voted. “Half of their votes went to Donald Trump, the other half didn’t… Voters deserve a say in whether we go down the path of Trump and Biden again or chart a new conservative path,” she said.

DeSantis’ withdrawal from the presidential race also puts his political future in question. The 45-year-old can only serve two terms as governor of Florida.

His final term ends in January 2027.