Nikki Haley Could Get a Sneaky Win Over Trump (And Biden) - Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley failed to win the Nevada primary on Tuesday despite being the only candidate on the ballot. She lost to " none of these candidates," but that really didn't matter as former President Donald Trump is expected to easily win Thursday's caucus.

Currently, Trump has secured 33 delegates to Haley's 17 – with 1,215 needed to win the nomination – and the road ahead is only going to get harder for Haley in the weeks to come. Yet, she's continued to put up a good fight and even appeared in the cold opening of Saturday Night Live , where she poked fun at both Trump and President Joe Biden.

It is clear that Haley wants to be president, and she may actually be thinking about 2028 – not 2024. While the other GOP hopefuls have bowed out, Haley is sticking in the fight, and likely for good reason.

There is little reason to suggest that Nikki Haley and Trump can mend fences. Nikki Haley wins by seeing that Trump loses this year to Biden, while she is also hedging her bets.

Nikki Haley: Plan A – Looking to 2028

Haley's main plan right now is to force Trump to hit the campaign trail to win the nomination. The longer she stays in the race, the more resources Trump will spend to ensure he is the candidate. That increases the chances of a Biden win.

Her other rival for 2028, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking the other approach. He dropped out and threw his support behind Trump to become the heir apparent. That's a risky move because Trump will likely pick South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as his VEEP. If Trump wins, Noem becomes the heir apparent if Trump serves out his term. If Trump dies, then Noem could be running for reelection in four years!

Yet, if Joe Biden is reelected, then Nikki Haley could become the GOP's best hope in 2028.

Should Biden serves out his full second term the country will have likely moved on from Trump, and DeSantis' time may have come and gone. The country will be ready for a change, and Haley will be ready to step up.

But if Biden dies in office as Haley has repeatedly warned, then the country will have President Kamala Harris. She's already the most unpopular vice president in modern history and there is little reason to believe she'd gain in popularity while sitting in the Oval Office.

Yet, such a scenario would make it very hard for a guy like DeSantis to win. It really could take another woman to run against her rather than the white guy from Florida.

A Biden win in 2024 could pave a path to the White House for Nikki Haley in 2028.

Nikki Haley Plan B – Donald Trump is Out in 2024

Although it is now very likely that Trump will win the Republican nomination, he still has a ton of legal battles to fight, and there is even a chance he could go to jail. Whether he can actually run and serve as president remains a topic of debate. We're in truly uncharted waters right now.

Even though he appointed three of the current Supreme Court justices – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett – the high court could also rule that he could be kept off the ballot in some states. That could be enough to result in a contested nomination, and perhaps the GOP could select someone else. Haley would be the candidate best positioned in such a scenario.

It was also this month that conservative political commentator Ann Coulter suggested on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that the best thing Trump could do for the Republican Party is die. Trump will turn 78 in June, older than the average life expectancy for American males. Trump can afford the best doctors, but he can't remotely be described as being in ideal health.

If Trump were to pass away before the Republican National Convention in July, then again, Haley would be the best – really only – option for the GOP.

For all of these reasons, Nikki Haley isn't going to step aside just yet. She's playing the long game, with an option to jump in should the short game suddenly require a change of players.

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].