Trump starts 2024 with new target to 'crush': report

The campaign to elect Donald Trump as president ended 2023 with a full-on assault to “crush” the person now seen as his top contender, according to a report.

In the last two weeks, MAGA Inc. spent $3.4 million to run an ad attacking Nikki Haley over a gas tax in her home state of South Carolina, followed by $370,000 worth of anti-Haley mailers, the Daily Beast reported.

It’s the first time Trump’s super PAC has spent significant money targeting Haley.

The development shows Trump now considers her as a real threat that he must destroy, the Daily Beast reported.

And, though Haley has so far been reluctant to attack Trump, the report says she’s preparing for “things to get ugly.”

“Haley’s recent surge in New Hampshire — a December poll had her within the margin of error in the first-in-the-nation primary — has clearly gotten under Trumpworld’s skin, threatening the long-held certitude that the former president can coast to the nomination without having to engage in a real campaign,” the Daily Beast reported.

“Which is why Trump and his advisers are trying to crush Haley now, before she gathers serious momentum.”

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The latest spending aimed at Haley is significantly more than the $2 million Trump has so far spent to fight Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in New Hampshire, despite him for a long time looking like his main contender.

The ad dinging Haley for the gas tax also caused a change in her nickname, from “Birdbrain” to “High Tax Haley.”

“For one, Trump’s original attack didn’t appear to be resonating, at least not in the way that he had hoped,” the Beast reported. "For another, Trump has long had problems with female Republicans. The 'birdbrain' attack seemed to be yet another misogynist critique that suggested Haley was an airhead simply because she’s a woman. That proved to be a real problem for Trump.”