Former U.S. President Donald Trump has defeated former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and strong contestant Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire Republican primary, multiple U.S. media organisations projected Tuesday night.

Trump has garnered 54 percent of the vote in the northeastern state, compared with 45 percent for Haley, according to the tally count by the Associated Press as of 8 p.m. Eastern time (0100 GMT), Xinhua reported.

After a 30-percentage-point loss to Trump in the Iowa caucuses, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ended his presidential bid on Sunday, leaving Haley as the only Republican challenger to Trump.

Haley, who invested significant time and financial resources in winning New Hampshire, said in a speech that the race is far from over.

After her defeat, Haley wrote on X: " Donald Trump’s only strategy is to lie about me and my record. That’s not going to work in South Carolina." "The people of South Carolina know that I cut their taxes, passed one of the toughest immigration bills in the country, and moved thousands from welfare to work," she said.

Taking the stage in New Hampshire, Trump targeted her rival Haley and said she had a ' very bad night'.

"She pretended she won Iowa," he was quoted as saying by BBC. "I looked around and said, didn't she come in third?"