US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Sarasota, Florida on November 28, 2015. (Reuters file photo)
There is no stopping Donald Trump. The real estate mogul and reality TV star is once again alone at the top of the Republican presidential hopefuls with a 20 point lead, according to a new poll.
A new CNN/ORC national poll released today found 36 per cent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents picking Mr Trump as their 2016 presidential candidate.
His nearest rival Texas Senator Ted Cruz at 16 per cent trails him by 20 points, while former neurosurgeon Ben Carson is in the third place with 14 per cent followed by Florida Senator Marco Rubio with 12 per cent.
All other candidates have the support of less than 5 per cent of Republican voters. Mr Carson (down 8 points since October), former Florida governor Jeb Bush (down 5 points to 3 per cent) and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (down 4 points to 1 per cent) have lost the most ground since the last CNN/ORC poll, conducted in mid-October.
Several other recent polls have shown Mr Trump reclaiming a solid lead atop the Republican field after several weeks of near parity with Mr Carson, CNN noted.
But the new poll finds the businessman with both his broadest support and his widest lead in any national live-interviewer telephone poll since he announced his candidacy in June.
The poll reflects Mr Trump's dominance over the rest of the field on the issues voters deem most important to them ranging from economy (55 per cent) t illegal immigration (48 per cent) to ISIS (46 per cent) to foreign policy (30 per cent).
More generally, about 4 in 10 Republicans say Mr Trump is the candidate who would be most effective at solving the country's problems and could best handle the responsibilities of being commander-in-chief.
On immigration, an issue that has been a focal point of Mr Trump's campaign, most Americans say the government should not attempt to deport all people living in the country illegally (63 per cent).
Even more say such a mass deportation wouldn't be possible (81 per cent). About half say such an effort would be harmful to the economy (47 per cent), while about 3 in 10 say it would help (29 per cent).