Nikki Haley to address presidential race ahead of crucial South Carolina primary – live

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Today at noon eastern time, we’re going to hear from Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who is the last major challenger remaining to Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. Her speech in Greenville, South Carolina, comes before the state’s Republican primary on Saturday, which is viewed as crucial for Haley to win, or at least come close to winning, in order to continue her campaign. Yet polls generally show Trump with an overwhelming advantage in the Palmetto state, meaning Haley supporters may be in for more disappointment.

Trump is meanwhile busy convincing people that his nomination is inevitable. Politico reports that today his campaign will release a memo arguing that the former president will have an insurmountable lead in Republican delegates by the middle of March. We’ll let you know what Haley has to say about all that when she speaks at 12pm.

Here’s what else is going on today:

• Joe Biden is flying to Los Angeles, where he’ll participate in an evening campaign reception.

• Congress has been deadlocked for weeks over passing legislation to approve military aid to Israel and Ukraine, and potentially tighten border policy, but perhaps there’ll be some news in the negotiations today.

• White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will take reporters’ questions sometime after 1pm.