Donald Trump: US becoming a 'third-world country'

Fresh off his primary win in New Hampshire, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump set his sights on South Carolina, the next state to hold a primary. While Trump had been expected to win New Hampshire's nominating contest, he swamped the Republican field by almost 20 points, demonstrating that his passionate, anti-establishment supporters could be relied on to show up and vote when it counts.

"There's something happening, I mean I'm telling you there's something happening. You're next. It's going to be so important because if we can win South Carolina, which is an amazing, incredible place, incredible people. If we can win – and I don't want your money I want your vote to be honest, I don't want your money," Trump said in Pendleton, South Carolina, on Wednesday (10 February).

Trump's win solidifies his front-runner status in the race to be the party's White House nominee for the 8 November election. The former reality television star has campaigned to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States, deport illegal immigrants and build a wall along the Mexican border.

"We have 179,000 criminal illegal immigrants. Can't have it folks. They are going back, they are all going back," Trump told supporters in South Carolina. Trump also likened the US to a "third-world" country. He said that, by comparison to other countries, the US needed to develop its infrastructure.

"I see airports in different places of the world. You go to some of these Asian countries, you go to some of the Mideast. You go to Saudi Arabia, you go to Qatar, you go to different places in China. You see airports and infrastructure the likes of which you've never seen. They have in China trains that are so modern, so fast, so incredible, you never see that, we don't have anything. We got trains that go bup, bup. They're like from 150 years ago. We're becoming a third-world country," he said.

After the South Carolina primary, on 20 February, comes Nevada three days later, followed by a spate of Southern states on 1 March. All provide Trump with the chance to consolidate his support before any other candidate amasses enough delegates to pose a real threat. His toughest opponent in those states will likely be Cruz, the Texas lawmaker who won in Iowa and whose insurgent candidacy is equally worrisome to the Republican establishment.