Trump walks to victory in the Republican Caucuses in Nevada

Former President Donald J. Trump cruised to victory in the Republican caucuses in Nevada on Thursday, an outcome that was all but guaranteed because he was the only major candidate on the ballot.

The Associated Press declared Mr. Trump the winner shortly after caucus sites closed in Nevada, giving him his fourth straight victory in a Republican nominating contest that will award delegates this year.

Even in a campaign where Trump's dominance has sapped much of the race's drama, his victory in Nevada felt particularly preordained. His last major Republican Party rival, Nikki Haley, opted months ago to skip the caucuses, which were led by the Republican Party of Nevada, and instead participated in Tuesday's primary, required by state law .

Mrs. Haley still won the competition, but the results were essentially immaterial. The state's Republican Party, led by a close Trump ally, decided it would allocate its presidential delegates based solely on the caucuses, forcing candidates to choose to run in one contest or the other.

Mr. Trump's symbolic success on Tuesday was part of a strategy pushed by his supporters in Nevada, including the Republican governor, and was a further indication of the former president's hold among Republicans in the state.

Competitive or not, Trump's victory in the caucuses on Thursday remains a crucial prize that will allow him to collect delegates and claim additional momentum as attention shifts to the South Carolina primary, his next battle with Ms Haley, on 24 February.

His victory also capped a remarkable day that began with the Supreme Court signaling that it would likely overturn a ruling that had removed Mr. Trump from the presidential race in Colorado.

His campaign is also likely to be boosted by a special counsel report that raised pointed questions about President Biden's mental acuity and that Mr. Trump has already cited as he continues to argue that the criminal charges he faces are politically motivated.

The former president also won the caucuses in the US Virgin Islands on Thursday, receiving 73 percent of the vote.