Trump hails ‘great day’ after resoundingly quick South Carolina victory – latest updates

Joan E Greve

Another voter named John, who declined to provide his last name, cast his ballot for Donald Trump at the main branch of the Charleston county public library this afternoon.

“He is the best president in my lifetime,” John said. “I’ve never had a time in my life – and I’ve been around a long time – where I woke up for four straight years and felt the country was in great hands.”

John applauded Haley’s performance as governor of South Carolina, but he argued she should have dropped out of the presidential race “once it was very obvious” that Trump was going to win. Trump has already won the first three voting contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

“I was a big Nikki fan. I still am actually. I thought she was a wonderful governor of South Carolina,” he said. “But I have the template for a guy that served four years as my president, and I know how I felt under Trump. I love Nikki as a governor. I love Trump as my president.”

Minutes after his victory in the South Carolina Republican primary was confirmed, Donald Trump appeared on stage in Columbia before a crowd of supporters.

“It’s a great day,” the former president said. He then turned to the contests to come.

“Michigan’s up and we’re gonna have a tremendous success there and then we have a thing called Super Tuesday,” he said, referring to the 15 states that vote on 5 March.

“We’re going to be up here on November 5, and we’re going to look at Joe Biden, and we’re gonna look him right in the eye. He’s destroying our country, and we’re gonna say, Joe, you’re fired. Get out.”

Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, the Associated Press reports.

Polls across South Carolina have now closed in the state’s Republican presidential primary.

We are five minutes away from 7pm, when polls are closing in South Carolina’s Republican primary.

Donald Trump is facing off against the state’s former governor Nikki Haley, who is his last major challenger for the party’s nomination. Trump has won all of the states that have voted thus far in the Republican nomination process, and polls show him with an overwhelming advantage in the Palmetto state. Despite that, Haley and her campaign staff said repeatedly this week that she does not plan to quit.

We rely on the Associated Press to call the outcomes of elections, and will let you know when they determine the winner in South Carolina.

Lauren Gambino

Greeting from Nikki Haley’s primary night event in Charleston, which is being held in the chandelier ballroom of a luxury downtown hotel.

Supporters have adopted Haley’s “happy warrior” mentality. Her team is still selling “barred permanently” shirts and “women for Haley” pins in the lobby – a sign of the steady stream of donations that is sustaining her longshot campaign.

Inside, Fox News is on the big screens with the volume on loud. The network just interviewed Trumpworld spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt from the former president’s campaign night event in Columbia. In the interview, which blared across the ballroom, Leavitt derided Haley as “delusion.” Shortly after the interview aired, the Haley campaign muted the TV and turned on the music.

Joan E Greve

Vincent DiMauro, 80, cast a ballot for Nikki Haley this afternoon at the main branch of the Charleston county public library because he believes Donald Trump represents a threat to the nation.

“I want to see the country survive, and I don’t think it will under Trump,” DiMauro said. “He’s totally out of control. He has no respect for other human beings.”

While acknowledging that he did not agree with Haley on every single issue, DiMauro said he would absolutely support her over 81-year-old Joe Biden.

“I’m 80. I can’t be president. I know what my limitations are,” DiMauro said. “He’s just not mentally or physically capable of performing the job as it should be over the next four years.”

Good evening, US politics blog readers. Donald Trump is likely about an hour away from notching another win in his quest to clinch the Republican presidential nomination, this time in South Carolina, where voters have spent the day casting ballots in the GOP primary. Polls close at 7pm ET in the Palmetto State, which is, of course, the home of Nikki Haley, the former governor who is Trump’s last remaining major rival for the GOP nomination. She may have roots in the state, but surveys have repeatedly shown Trump with a major lead over Haley, who has yet to win a single state in the nomination process thus far, but insists she will not quit her campaign. Surprise are always possible, and we’ll find out soon if any are in store for tonight.

Here’s what else we’re looking for from South Carolina’s Republican primary:

• How much support will either candidate receive? While Haley insists she does not plan to quit, a terrible showing will nonetheless up pressure on her to exit the race.

• What do exit polls tell us about Haley’s base of support? There are signs from previous states like New Hampshire that Haley’s voters are more moderate than Trump. Should he win the nomination, its unclear if they will come out for the former president in swing states where their votes matter most.

• What more will Trump say, should he win? He already made headlines earlier today, when he vowed his election would be “judgment day” for his enemies.