Group supporting Trump turns its attention to attacking Haley

The super PAC, which aligns itself with former President Donald J. Trump, is putting money into television ads for the first time attacking Nikki Haley, his former U.N. ambassador, who has been gaining momentum in the Republican primaries.

Make America Great Again, Inc. will air an ad targeting Ms. Haley in New Hampshire on Tuesday, according to a filing with a television network. The ad is expected to run from Tuesday through Sunday, the filing shows.

Mrs. Haley responded preemptively to the advertisement on Monday evening: writing on the social media platform“Two days ago, Donald Trump denied that our wave existed in New Hampshire. Now he is posting a negative ad against me. Someone gets nervous. #Bring it.”

Ms. Haley has risen to second place in New Hampshire, according to a recent publication CBS News poll. Mr. Trump and his affiliated super PAC had previously poured resources into bashing Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who has slumped in the polls and is now battling Ms. Haley for second place in the early primaries.

For much of his campaign, Mr. DeSantis was the only candidate Mr. Trump considered a serious threat. While Mr. Trump sometimes mocked Ms. Haley and berated her, he more often criticized Mr. DeSantis by name at rallies, and Mr. Trump’s allies have waged a sustained online campaign against Mr. DeSantis. Mr. Trump’s super PAC last funded an ad buy against Mr. DeSantis in October, accusing him of supporting Puerto Rico statehood.

But as Mr. DeSantis has stepped up his attacks against Mr. Trump, the former president has turned his attention elsewhere.

Chris Jankowski, the former CEO of Never Back Down, the super PAC backing Mr. DeSantis, said last summer that such a shift in Mr. Trump’s attention would be concerning.

“What would worry me is if I woke up one day and Trump and his team weren’t attacking Never Back Down and Ron DeSantis,” Mr. Jankowski told The New York Times in July. “That would be worrying. Other than that, we have them exactly where we want them.”

He resigned from the embattled super PAC last month, in addition to a series of firings and dismissals that roiled the group, the latest of which was the firing of Jeff Roe, a chief strategist, on Saturday evening. On Monday, a campaign watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, accusing the super PAC of essentially serving as Mr. DeSantis’ campaign.

In recent weeks, Ms. Haley has won the support of Chris Sununu, the popular Republican governor of New Hampshire, and has made gains in the state — though she still trails Trump by double digits. Her rise was fueled by a streamlined campaign operation and strong debate performances that positioned her as a more moderate Republican candidate than some of her counterparts.

Ms. Haley has spent few resources attacking her former boss. At a crowded town hall on Monday in Iowa, where Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis are locked in a heated race for second place, she instead emphasized that Mr. Trump was about to attack her.

“So stay tuned,” she said. “We’re going to have a lot of fun with that.”

Maggie Haberman And Jasmine Ulloa reporting contributed.