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The RNC is weighing a resolution to declare Trump its 'presumptive' nominee
The Republican National Committee could move next week to declare former President Donald Trump the “presumptive 2024 nominee” for the party’s presidential nomination.
A draft resolution anointing Trump and obtained by NBC News from two sources has been circulating among RNC members, who could vote on it at their winter meeting in Las Vegas.
The resolution asserts in part that “all evidence negates the possibility of a mathematical path forward to the 2024 Republican nomination by any candidate other than President Trump, our presumptive nominee.” The document also maintains that the RNC has “impartially [supported] the caucus/primary processes nationwide to provide a level playing field” and sponsored “robust, issues-focused” debates to help GOP voters assess the field. (The resolution leaves out the fact that Trump skipped all of those debates.)
“RESOLVED that the Republican National Committee hereby 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 resolution reads.
Trump called for the party to unify around his candidacy Tuesday night after his decisive victory in the New Hampshire primary. But Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, has vowed to continue her campaign, drawing fury from the former president.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel has telegraphed a desire to unite around Trump if his dominance of early caucuses and primaries continues.
“If President Trump comes out strong tonight, that’s a clear message being sent by our primary voters,” McDaniel said in a statement to NBC News before the New Hampshire results came in Tuesday. “Republicans know that if we’re not united as a party behind our nominee we won’t be able to beat Biden.”
Following Trump’s victory Tuesday, McDaniel told Fox News: “I’m looking at the map and the path going forward, and I don’t see it for Nikki Haley.”
“I do think there’s a message that’s coming out from the voters, which is very clear: We need to unite around our eventual nominee, which is gonna be Donald Trump,” she added.
Asked for comment Thursday, RNC spokesperson Keith Schipper noted that McDaniel doesn’t offer resolutions.
“Resolutions, such as this one, are brought forward by members of the RNC,” Schipper said. “This will be taken up by the Resolutions Committee and they will decide whether to send this resolution to be voted on by the 168 RNC members at our annual meeting next week.”
News of the resolution — first reported by The Dispatch, which noted it was submitted by close Trump ally and Maryland committee member David Bossie — drew quick complaints from other corners of the RNC.
Bossie did not return a request for comment.
Oscar Brock, an RNC member from Tennessee, said he caught wind of the resolution Thursday afternoon and feels it “certainly violates the intent of” RNC rules around the presidential primary.
“The rules specifically say you’re not the guy until you’ve gotten 50% plus one of the delegates required for the convention,” he said, adding, “I would think that we would be more open to letting more people have a say in this process before declaring it over.”
Bill Palatucci, a committee member from New Jersey who helped lead the super PAC that supported Chris Christie’s presidential campaign, called the proposal “crazy.”
“This is insulting to the grassroots activists who wait four years for the chance to take part in the nominating process,” Palatucci added.
Gordon Ackley, the chair of the Virgin Islands GOP, which has presidential nominating caucuses scheduled Feb. 8, also panned the proposal.
“It is unfortunate other Republicans want to deny their voters the opportunity to be heard and cast a vote,” Ackley wrote in a post on X. “Regardless of who you support, there is a process that must be followed.”
A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Haley spokesperson brushed off the proposed resolution Thursday.
“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,” the spokesperson said. “If Ronna McDaniel wants to be helpful she can organize a debate in South Carolina, unless she’s also worried that Trump can’t handle being on the stage for 90 minutes with Nikki Haley.”
A source familiar with the Republican Party’s rules noted that the term “presumptive nominee” doesn’t come with any official meaning or resources under party rules. And the resolution, while calling for the RNC to move “into full general election mode,” does not require the party to take any specific, tangible steps to aid Trump.
There’s precedent for the party to declare a “presumptive nominee” and begin the tangible work of merging the campaign and the national party before the summer. In late April 2012, then-RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declared Mitt Romney the party’s “presumptive nominee,” adding that the designation was “beyond an endorsement. It is a complete merger wherein the RNC is putting all of its resources and energy behind Mitt Romney,” according to the Los Angeles Times. However, the GOP nominating contest was significantly further along by that point, with nearly all of Romney’s competitors having already dropped out.
That same source familiar with the party’s rules added that the decision to merge those resources is left to the chair of the party. But while the resolution itself may not trigger any formal resource shift, the result would be a declaration from RNC members to McDaniel about how they may want her to handle the upcoming weeks or months — caught between a former president who is seen as a heavy favorite for the GOP nominating fight and a second-place Haley who has won almost 30% of the delegates allocated in the first two races of the nomination.
Brock, the RNC member from Tennessee, said passing the resolution would be akin to disenfranchising millions of primary voters before Haley’s even dropped out of the race. He added that while it’s traditional for the RNC to package together a group of resolutions and pass them all in the same vote, this one is more than likely to stand alone, apart from any other resolutions the party seeks to pass next week.
“There might have been other debates on other issues,” Brock said. “But they just made it to the backburner right away.”
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Map: Earthquake Shakes Central California
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. The New York Times
A minor earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.5 struck in Central California on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The temblor happened at 7:17 a.m. Pacific time about 6 miles northwest of Pinnacles, Calif., data from the agency shows.
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.
Source: United States Geological Survey | 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 Monday, March 2 at 10:20 a.m. Eastern. Aftershocks data is as of Monday, March 2 at 11:18 a.m. Eastern.
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US says Kuwait accidentally shot down 3 American jets
The U.S. and Israel have been conducting strikes against targets in Iran since Saturday morning, with the aim of toppling Tehran’s clerical regime. Iran has fired back, with retaliatory assaults featuring missiles and drones targeting several Gulf countries and American bases in the Middle East.
“All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation,” Central Command said.
“The cause of the incident is under investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available,” it added.
In a separate statement later Monday, Central Command said that American forces had been killed during combat since the strikes began.
“As of 7:30 am ET, March 2, four U.S. service members have been killed in action. The fourth service member, who was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks, eventually succumbed to their injuries,” it said.
Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing. The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification,” Central Command added.
This story has been updated.
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Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war
Smoke rises over Konarak naval base in southern Iran on Sunday. The base was one of hundreds of targets of U.S. and Israeli forces throughout the country.
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Planet Labs PBC
Commercial satellite images are providing a unique look at the extent of damage being done to Iran’s military facilities across the country.
The U.S. and Israeli military campaign opened with a daytime attack that struck Iranian leadership in central Tehran. Smoke was still visible rising from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound following the attack that killed the supreme leader.
An image by the company Airbus taken on Saturday shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Iran’s Leadership House in central Tehran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening wave of attacks.
Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026
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Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026
Israel and the U.S. have gone on to strike targets across the country. Reports on social media indicate that there have been numerous military bases and compounds attacked all over Iran, and Iran has responded with attacks throughout the Middle East.
U.S. forces have also been striking at Iran’s navy. In a post on his social media platform, President Trump said that he had been briefed that U.S. forces had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels. U.S. Central Command did not immediately confirm that number but it did say it had struck an Iranian warship in port.
An image captured on Saturday shows a ship burning at Iran’s naval base at Konarak.
Satellite image ©2026 Vantor
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Numerous satellite images show burning vessels at Konarak naval base in southern Iran. Images also show damage to a nearby airbase where hardened hangers were struck by precision munitions.
Hardened aircraft shelters at Konarak airbase were struck with precision munitions.
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And there was extensive damage at a drone base in the same area. Iran has launched numerous drones and missiles toward Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Many drones have been intercepted but videos on social media show that some have evaded air defenses and caused damage in nearby Gulf countries. In Dubai, debris from an Iranian drone damaged the iconic Burj Al Arab, according to a statement from Dubai’s government.
Buildings at an Iranian drone base at Konarak were destroyed in the strikes.
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Iran’s most powerful weapons are its long-range missiles. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have hidden the missiles deep inside mountain tunnels. Images taken Sunday in the mountains of northern Iran indicate that some of those tunnels were hit in a wave of strikes.
Following Khamenei’s death, Iran declared 40 days of mourning. Satellite images showed mourners gathering in Tehran’s Enghelab square on Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told NPR on Sunday that Iran will continue to fight “foreign aggression, foreign domination.”
A White House official told NPR that Trump plans to talk to Iran’s interim leadership “eventually,” but that for now, U.S. operations continue in the region “unabated.”
A large crowd of mourners fill Enghelab Square in Tehran on Sunday, following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Satellite image ©2026 Vantor
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