Nikki Haley emerging as Donald Trump’s likeliest challenger

Nikki Haley is emerging as the likeliest rival to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination after moving into second place in the latest Iowa poll.

The former South Carolina governor, who also served as Mr Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, is now tied with Florida governor, Ron DeSantis on 16 per cent.

However, the momentum is with Ms Haley, who was a full ten points behind Mr DeSantis in the same poll in August.

The boost in Iowa comes weeks after a poll in New Hampshire put her in second place with 19 per cent – nine points ahead of Mr DeSantis.

Mr Trump, however, is still dominating the field according to the polls with the support of 43 per cent of Republicans in Iowa and 49 per cent in New Hampshire.

Ms Haley’s position has also been strengthened by the decision of former Vice President, Mike Pence to drop out of the race for the White House.

The pair have similar views on foreign policy and are likely to attract the support of traditional Republicans.

Mr Pence has yet to endorse another candidate.

Ms Haley, however, has been boosted by the backing of former presidential candidate Will Hurd, who dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Helped by widely praised performances in the candidates’ debates, Ms Haley’s trajectory has been steady at a time when Mr DeSantis’s appeal has waned.

The movement in the polls has also been reflected in the latest fund-raising figures released by the Federal Election Commission.

In the second quarter of the year, Mr DeSantis raised $20 million compared to Ms Haley’s $5.3 million.

The most recent figures show that Mr DeSantis raised $11.2 million and Ms Haley $8.2 million.

Not only has Ms Haley narrowed the gap, but she is also spending considerably less than Mr DeSantis.

Figures released two weeks ago showed that she had spent $3.5 million on her campaign in the latest quarter and Mr DeSantis $10.6 million.

There are also signs that the financial pressure is beginning to tell on Mr DeSantis who in July laid off around a third of his staff.

The departures included two of his senior campaign advisers, Dave Abrams and Tucker Obenshain.

With the crisis unfolding in the Middle East, Ms Haley has had the former president firmly in her sights.

In a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition over the weekend, she described the former president as “confused” about the threats facing the US and Israel.

“As Americans, we need to ask a critical question. We all know what Trump did in the past. The question is, what will he do in the future?” Haley added in Las Vegas.

Her rise has not gone unnoticed by Mr Trump who dismissed his former UN ambassador as a “birdbrain” in a post on his social media channel.

A day later Mr Trump’s campaign sent a birdcage to Ms Haley’s hotel room – complete with a large bag of bird food.

Ms Haley posted a picture of the cage on X, formerly known as Twitter.

She wrote: “After a day of campaigning, this is the message waiting for me at my hotel room… #PrettyPatheticTryAgain #YouJustMadeMyCaseForMe.”