Former president Donald Trump has again crushed Nikki Haley, his former ambassador to the United Nations, and this time in her home state of South Carolina where she served two terms as governor. It was an especially humiliating defeat.

Trump the triumphant now appears to be on an unstoppable glide path to his coronation for the third successive time as the Republican presidential nominee. He has driven a dozen contenders from the race, purged the Republican Party of its leadership and installed his own generals (including his daughter-in-law Laura Trump) with iron-grip control over the party and its funding.

Trump has played the new Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, for his puppet by directing Johnson not to bring the Ukraine aid bill and tougher immigration laws to the floor for a vote – where it would almost surely pass – and has used his allies to tell Johnson: you bring up Ukraine and we will remove you from office.

Trump looks stronger, and President Joe Biden looks weaker, than at any time over the course of Biden’s term. Trump has a higher favourability rating (43.7 per cent) to Biden’s (39.6 per cent), and lower unfavourable numbers (Trump 51.9 per cent unfavourable, Biden 55.6 per cent). The Republican Party is firmly united behind Trump. But Biden cannot escape his 81 years, with media speculation rampant that Biden should step aside and let another dynamic leader carry the party forward to victory in November. The angst is prevalent, but Biden is not leaving the field.

Biden cannot win in November from where he is right now. He must work to get his approval rating to 45 per cent or more. But Trump also cannot win from where he is right now. The pressing question is not about Biden, who has room to strengthen by attacking Trump’s extremism and authoritarian character, but about Trump. Has Trump peaked? Is this as good as it gets for him?

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We will not know the answer until November, but the entrails from the Republican primaries so far indicate that Trump is falling short. In Iowa, Trump won 51 per cent of the caucus vote. DeSantis and Haley together polled 40 per cent. In New Hampshire, Trump won 54 per cent from Republican voters; Haley was at 43 per cent. In South Carolina last weekend, Trump won 60 per cent. Haley was just shy of 40 per cent.

Yes, Trump conquered. But these three contests, in different parts of the country, show that 35-40 per cent of Republicans voting did not support Trump. Many of them may not in November. Fox News found that 35 per cent of New Hampshire voters were dissatisfied with Trump and would not vote for him in November. Fifteen per cent of Iowa caucus voters said the same.

Nikki Hayley, looking like Rocky Balboa but without a comeback in store, is staying in the ring for a few more rounds. She is pounding away with the gloves off. She calls into question Trump’s competence, his unfitness for office, and his cognitive abilities and speech infirmities. Haley is attacking Trump on his track record of losing Republican control of the House and Senate and the White House, on denigrating those serving in the armed forces (including her husband), on running up the national debt by $US8 trillion ($12 trillion) in his first term.