How Donald Trump went from a diminished ex-president to the GOP's dominant front-runner
When Donald Trump left the White House three years ago, he was a one-term president whose refusal to accept his reelection defeat culminated in an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol
NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — When he left the White House, Donald Trump was a pariah.
After years of bending Washington to his will with a single tweet, Trump was, at least for a moment, diminished. He was a one-term Republican president rejected by voters and then shunned by large swaths of his party after his refusal to accept his 2020 election defeat culminated in an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that sent lawmakers running for their lives.
Some members of his Cabinet had discussed invoking the 25th Amendment, seeing him unfit to remain in office. He was banned from social media and became the first president to be impeached twice. And when he departed Washington, the nation's capital was still reeling from his supporters' violence and resembled a security fortress with boarded-up storefronts and military vehicles in the streets.
Three years later, Trump is on the cusp of a stunning turnaround. With commanding victories in the first two 2024 nominating contests and wide polling leads in the states ahead, Trump is fast closing in on the Republican nomination. Already, he is the first nonincumbent Republican to win the party's contests in both Iowa and New Hampshire, and he had the largest victory margin in Iowa caucus history. His standing is expected to improve this coming week with a win in Nevada’s Republican caucuses. His last major GOP rival, Nikki Haley, will skip the caucuses in favor of a competing primary, which awards no delegates.
