Donald Trump on Saturday swept to victory in the Republican caucuses in Michigan, a contested state for the party that some Republicans fear could hurt his campaign in the key battleground state as he gears up for the election in November.

The former US President also won the latest Republican presidential nomination vote on Saturday, defeating competitor Nikki Haley in Missouri.

Results from a compilation of a dozen polls by RealClearPolitics revealed on Wednesday that the approval rating of former US President Donald Trump has skyrocketed to its highest level since 2022. 

The Associated Press declared Trump the winner of the Missouri race when just a small percentage of ballots were counted.

Trump has won each nominating contest by a large majority, putting him on course to secure the Republican presidential nomination by mid-March.

The latest Trump triumph spells difficulties for Haley, after Trump won Michigan's first race, a primary, by more than 40%. Michigan Republicans, whose party rules required a second contest, will also host a party convention on Saturday to award the remaining number of delegates.

The campaign will shortly turn to Super Tuesday, March 5, when 15 states have Republican nomination contests. Haley has promised to continue in the contest until then. She has not ended her campaign despite a stunning defeat to Trump last Saturday in South Carolina, where she served as governor twice.

Related News

Elbit Systems loses billions as UK ditches drone contract

US FDA finds widely used asthma drug impacts the brain: Reuters

Haley has maintained that despite the long odds, she should remain in the race to provide people with an alternative to the former President. She has argued to voters that Trump's legal issues will distract him from the campaign, making him a less appealing choice to face President Joe Biden.

Despite the defeats, Haley outperformed surveys in numerous early voting states. She garnered more than 43% of the vote in New Hampshire and almost 40% in her native state of South Carolina, where she campaigned extensively.

Haley expressed last week that "huge numbers" of voters have said they want an alternative. 

Jai Chabria, a Republican strategist, believes the race was over a "long time ago" when Trump first announced he would run. “There are a few in the donor class that wants us to go on, but that’s really it.”

Poll shows Biden's disapproval rating hits 47%

According to a poll announced Saturday, strong voter disapproval of Joe Biden's job performance has hit 47%, the greatest negative polling percentage at any point during his administration. According to a Siena College survey commissioned by The New York Times, Biden presently trails likely Republican contender Donald Trump by 43% to 48% among registered voters nationwide.

Just one in every four voters (24%) believe the country is headed in the right direction - a critical topic in the run-up to a national election - and more than twice as many people said Biden's policies had directly harmed them as those who claimed his policies had benefited them.

A total of 63% who believe the country is headed in the wrong direction said they would vote for Trump.

Last week, a Bloomberg survey revealed that Biden is behind Trump in numerous important states like 
Arizona (6%), Georgia (6%), Pennsylvania (6%), Michigan (2%), North Carolina (9%), Nevada (6%) and Wisconsin (4%).

In Saturday's poll, Biden's approval rating was 38%, while Trump had a 44% positive rating.