Trump mocks Nikki Haley by telling her she got 'trounced' on Super Tuesday and urges her to 'stay in the race' and 'fight until the end' just as she takes the stage to drop out

Former President Donald Trump ridiculed Nikki Haley for getting 'trounced' on Super Tuesday, just as she was about to announce she was ending her campaign on Wednesday morning.

In a victory speech on Tuesday evening, Trump went out of his way to strike a poised, presidential tone as he pivoted from the primary to attacking President Joe Biden.

And in front of raucous supporters at Mar-a-Lago he pointedly avoided mention of Haley, his last rival for the Republican nomination.

But in a sign of the way she got under his skin, with a primary victory in the state of Vermont, that all changed on Wednesday morning when he vented his fury. 

'Nikki Haley got trounced last night, in record setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries,' he posted on Truth Social. 

On Tuesday night Donald Trump pointedly avoided mentioning Nikki Haley in his Super Tuesday speech. That all changed Wednesday morning when he slammed her

'Much of her money came from radical left Democrats, as did many of her voters, almost 50 percent, according to the polls. 

'At this point, I hope she stays in the "race" and fights it out until the end!' 

Haley announced she was ending her campaign from her base in South Carolina. Yet although Trump almost swept the board with wins, his former U.N. ambassador secured more than 20 percent and 30 percent of the vote in a slew of states adding weight to her case that the Republican frontrunner does not represent all of the party. 

The Biden campaign sees an opening to woo moderates and swing voters, and he appealed to her supporters to back him.

'Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,' Biden said.  

The campaign posted its message minutes after Trump's post, in which he both mocked Haley and tried to appeal for her supporters to join him.

'I'd like to thank my family, friends, and the great Republican Party for helping me to produce, by far, the most successful Super Tuesday in history , and would further like to invite all of the Haley supporters to join the greatest movement in the history of our nation,' he concluded, in a message studded with capital letters.

Trump vented his thoughts on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday morning

Trump delivered his speech in the gilded splendour of Mar-a-Lago's Grand Ballroom

Hundreds of glamorous young men and women arrived to watch the results roll in and to celebrate the former president's expected avalanche of delegates

For her part, Haley said Trump would have to earn her supporters' votes. She did not endorse her former boss.

'It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,' she said. 

'At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people.'

Her exit means Trump is assured of the nomination, although it appeared to be his for the taking since the Iowa caucuses in January.