Donald Trump given a fighting chance by ailing US economy

Millions of Americans think they have been left behind in the recovery and the billionaire has managed to tap into this discontent

The experts said it could never happen. There was no way in which Donald Trump could win the Republican nomination for the US presidency. Could a billionaire who had never held office, was distrusted by the party hierarchy, lacked a political machine and seemed to take delight in upsetting large chunks of the electorate really survive the primaries and have a shot at the White House? Well, really.

The smart money now says that Trump has no chance in a head-to-head presidential race with Hillary Clinton, who looks nailed-on as the candidate for the Democrats. Opinion polls suggest that Clinton would beat Trump by a margin of 10 percentage points were the election to be held now.