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Donald Trump moves closer to Republican coronation after Ron DeSantis ‘kisses the ring’

Published

2 years ago

January 22, 2024

Donald Trump moves closer to Republican coronation after Ron DeSantis ‘kisses the ring’

A week ago in Iowa, Ron DeSantis scathingly described how Donald Trump was forcing Republican politicians to “kiss the ring” of the former president in order to earn his praise and avoid public humiliation.

But on Sunday afternoon the Florida governor wasted no time in bowing down to Trump, endorsing him as he exited the US presidential race without even competing in the second Republican contest in New Hampshire.

DeSantis’s announcement that he was abandoning his quest for the White House marked a humbling end to a nearly eight-month campaign that was once seen as the most serious threat to Trump from conservative America’s fastest-rising political star.

Having rapidly dispensed with DeSantis, Trump is now one big step closer to defeating all of his opponents and clinching the Republican nomination to challenge Joe Biden in the November general election.

Over the past week, Trump has secured the backing of biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina senator Tim Scott, who both fell in line with the former president after dropping out of the race.

The only remaining Republican obstacle for Trump is Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and former US ambassador to the UN.

Haley and her allies on Sunday cheered DeSantis’s departure and the fact that she had outlasted all the other Trump rivals in the Republican primary.

“A little while ago there were 13 candidates in the race and now there are only two,” said Chris Sununu, the New Hampshire governor and a staunch Haley ally, at a rally for her on Sunday. “They said that couldn’t be done, but then Nikki Haley came along and wiped them all out!”

Many strategists and analysts believe, however, that she will be harmed more than helped by Sunday’s developments, since DeSantis’s supporters have greater sympathy for Trump than for Haley.

“They viewed DeSantis as a better version of Trump. That’s why they were with him. So I think those supporters will go to Trump,” said an influential DeSantis donor who requested anonymity to candidly discuss the campaign’s shortfalls. “They’re not Nikki Haley supporters. She’s just too much of a globalist and I think too beholden to corporate interests.”

“DeSantis has spent the last year trying to ‘out-Trump Trump’,” Lew Lukens, a senior partner at Signum Global Advisors, said in a note to clients on Sunday. “His relatively few New Hampshire supporters are much more likely, in our estimation, to turn to Trump.”

Trump was leading the New Hampshire Republican primary contest as of Sunday with 49.8 per cent support, compared with 36.1 per cent for Haley and 5.8 per cent for DeSantis, according to a FiveThirtyEight polling average. In South Carolina, which holds its primary in late February, Trump holds an even wider lead over Haley, which means her days could also be numbered, barring an unexpected upset.

“I don’t think anybody is going to catch Donald Trump here, South Carolina is Trump country,” said Mick Mulvaney, the former White House chief of staff under Trump and a former congressman from the state. “How does Nikki explain coming in second in her home state if that is the way it shakes out? It is just really tough.”

One factor over the coming weeks will be whether DeSantis donors revert to Trump or switch their support to Haley, even though her chances of winning are slim. Haley has received support from several high-profile donors, including the Charles Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity Action, in recent months.

But Texas business owner Roy Bailey, a co-chair of the DeSantis finance committee and a former Trump fundraiser, told the Financial Times that he would take a break from making campaign contributions. “We shall see,” he said. Another DeSantis donor who requested anonymity said: “Nikki doesn’t have a shot either. It’s Trump. We all know this.”

On Sunday afternoon, the Trump campaign’s senior advisers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, sent a memo saying Haley was left with two options if she lost in New Hampshire.

She “unites behind Trump and commits to defeating Joe Biden”, they wrote, or she “prepares to be ABSOLUTELY DEMOLISHED and EMBARRASSED” in the coming primary races. “Now, for some important advice . . . choose wisely.”

Meanwhile, prominent DeSantis surrogates have already begun lining up behind the former president. Minutes after the Florida governor announced he was suspending his campaign on Sunday afternoon, Virginia congressman Bob Good said in a social media post that he was providing his “complete and total endorsement” to Trump, adding that he was the “greatest president of my lifetime” and that “we need him to reinstate the policies that were working so well for America”.

Just days earlier, Good, who chairs the rightwing House Freedom Caucus and previously endorsed DeSantis, had found himself in the Trump team’s crosshairs when LaCivita publicly threatened to destroy his career prospects.

Trump and his supporters have successfully ousted Republican rivals in the past — notably Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney — by mounting primary challenges against them in legislative elections.

As for DeSantis, Trump and his allies have turned from their mocking attacks on the Florida governor to gracious pats on the back.

“I’d like to take time to congratulate Ron DeSantis,” Trump told supporters on Sunday. “He ran a really good campaign. I will tell you, it’s not easy.”

Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican congressman who backed Trump over DeSantis months ago, summed up the mood towards DeSantis in the Trump camp at a rally in New Hampshire on Sunday: “All I can say is: Welcome home, Ron. Welcome back to the ‘Maga movement’ where you have always belonged.”

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Video: Americans Exposed to Hantavirus on Cruise Ship Arrive in United States

Published

4 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

Video: Americans Exposed to Hantavirus on Cruise Ship Arrive in United States

new video loaded: Americans Exposed to Hantavirus on Cruise Ship Arrive in United States

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Americans Exposed to Hantavirus on Cruise Ship Arrive in United States

Eighteen passengers who were aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship with a deadly hantavirus outbreak, landed in Omaha on a U.S. government medical flight. The passengers were being monitored at medical facilities in Nebraska and Georgia.

: We’re working diligently to ensure no one leaves the security in an unsecured way at an inappropriate time. No one who poses a risk to public health is walking out the front door of the streets of Omaha or beyond.
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Eighteen passengers who were aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship with a deadly hantavirus outbreak, landed in Omaha on a U.S. government medical flight. The passengers were being monitored at medical facilities in Nebraska and Georgia.

By Axel Boada

May 11, 2026

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White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect pleads not guilty in federal court

Published

7 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect pleads not guilty in federal court

The man charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last month pleaded not guilty at a Monday arraignment in federal court.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, wearing an orange shirt and trousers, was handcuffed and shackled as he was brought into the courtroom in Washington, D.C., federal court. His handcuffs were attached to a chain around his waist, which clanked as he was led to the defense table.

Speaking on behalf of Allen, federal public defender Tezira Abe said her client “pleads not guilty to all four counts as charged,” including attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, in connection with the April 25 incident at the Washington Hilton hotel.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Jones advised the court that they plan to start producing their first tranche of discovery to the defense by the end of the week.

Officials said Allen, a California teacher and engineer, was armed with multiple guns, as well as knives, when he sprinted through a security checkpoint near the event where Trump and other White House officials had gathered with journalists.

He was arrested after an exchange of gunfire with a U.S. Secret Service officer who fired at him multiple times, a criminal complaint said. Allen was not shot during the exchange. The officer, who was wearing a ballistic vest, was shot once in the chest, treated at a hospital and released.

Trump and top members of his Cabinet and Congress were quickly evacuated from the room as others ducked under tables.

Allen was initially charged with attempting to assassinate the president, transportation of a firearm and ammunition through interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. On Tuesday, a federal grand jury indicted him on a new charge in the shooting of a Secret Service agent.

Moments before the attack, Allen had sent his family members a note apologizing and criticizing Trump without mentioning the president by name, according to a transcript of some of his writings provided to NBC News by a senior administration official. Allen also wrote that “administration officials (not including Mr. Patel)” were “targets.”

He also appeared to have taken a selfie in his hotel room. Prosecutors said Allen, who was dressed in a black button-down shirt and black pants, was “wearing a small leather bag consistent in appearance with the ammunition-filled bag later recovered from his person,” as well as a shoulder holster, a sheathed knife, pliers and wire cutters.

Officials have said they believe Allen had traveled by train from California to Washington, D.C., before checking into the hotel.

Allen’s sister, Avriana Allen, told law enforcement that her brother would make radical comments and constantly referenced a plan to fix the world, but said their parents were unaware that he had firearms in the home and that he would regularly train at shooting ranges.

Records show that he had purchased a Maverick 12-gauge shotgun in August 2025 and an Armscor Precision .38 semiautomatic pistol in October 2023.

After his arrest, Allen told the FBI that he did not expect to survive the incident, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine. He was briefly placed on suicide watch at the Washington, D.C., jail, where he’s being held.

Allen is expected to appear in court for a June 29 hearing.

At Monday’s arraignment, his legal team said they plan on asking for the “entire office” of the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia to be recused because of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s apparent involvement in the case in a “supervisory role.” Federal public defender Eugene Ohm said some of the evidence they receive from the government will further inform that decision.

News

Maps: Earthquakes Shake Southern California

Published

17 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Press Room

Maps: Earthquakes Shake Southern California

Shake intensity

Pop. density

Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 3 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “weak,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. All times on the map are Pacific time. The New York Times

A cluster of earthquakes have struck near the U.S.-Mexico border, including ones with a 4.5 and 4.7 magnitude, according to the United States Geological Survey.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

Aftershocks detected

Subsequent quakes have been reported in the same area. Such temblors are typically aftershocks caused by minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.

Quakes and aftershocks within 100 miles

Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.

When quakes and aftershocks occurred

All times are Pacific time. The New York Times

Sources: United States Geological Survey (epicenter, aftershocks, shake intensity); LandScan via Oak Ridge National Laboratory (population density) | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Pacific time. Shake data is as of Saturday, May 9 at 11:55 p.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Sunday, May 10 at 11:54 p.m. Eastern.