New York (AFP) - Donald Trump returned Monday to his sexual assault defamation trial in New York on the eve of the New Hampshire primary where polls show him likely to trounce the final remaining challenger, Nikki Haley, for the Republican presidential nomination.

The primary is seen as the last, best chance for Haley to stop Trump, who despite being twice impeached as president and now facing four criminal cases, has succeeded in imposing his far-right brand on the entire Republican party.

A new Washington Post/Monmouth poll Monday showed Trump, 77, backed by 52 percent in New Hampshire to Haley’s 34 percent.

Haley, a former South Carolina governor, is now the sole challenger after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out over the weekend. But unless she pulls off a political miracle, Trump is seen as on course to repeat his domination in the first contest in Iowa, then cruise through the remaining primaries to become the nominee to face President Joe Biden in November.

Far from hiding his multiple legal problems, Trump has turned courtroom sessions into quasi-campaign events, claiming that each trial is part of a Democratic establishment attempt to prevent his return to the White House for a second term.

That message may resonate only with hard-core Republican right-wingers but they are key to winning the Republican nomination. On Monday, Trump chose to repeat this pattern, planning to attend his civil defamation trial in New York and return to New Hampshire only for an eve-of-voting rally.

E. Jean Carroll, a successful writer, is seeking more than $10 million in damages for defamation by Trump, whom another New York civil jury found liable for sexual assault against her.

Trump separately faces serious criminal cases, including his alleged attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election in which he lost to Biden.

- Haley attacks Trump -

Haley, who served as UN ambassador under Trump, has turned on her old boss sharply in the last few days, pointing to a series of bizarre stumbles and gaffes during his speeches as a sign that he is losing mental competence.

“He’s just not at the same level he was at 2016. I think we’re seeing some of that decline. But more than that, what I’ll say is focus on the fact that no matter what it is, chaos follows him,” she told CBS.

She is also hoping to benefit from the large number of less-partisan voters in New Hampshire, rather than the more heavily conservative Republican base in Iowa.

But with DeSantis out and endorsing Trump, the march of the scandal-plagued businessman and former president looks increasingly unstoppable.

Trump branded Haley a “globalist” over the weekend – a potent barb for the isolationist, nationalist far-right that he has encouraged during his tumultuous rise to the top of Republican politics.

In contrast to Trump’s argument as president and now as candidate that the United States should reconsider historic alliances and even NATO membership, Haley has a traditional, hawkish Republican foreign policy.

If Haley over-performs on Tuesday, that could see her regain buzz in time for the next primary in her home state of South Carolina in late February.

Trump, however, may well be on his way to something of a coronation by then, with “Super Tuesday” on March 5, when 874 delegates are on the table, can get a candidate three-quarters of the way to the total required for the nomination.

Aides expect Trump to be in a position to close out the race a week later and want it in the bag by April at the outside – almost certainly before any of his criminal trials begin.