Former President said Tuesday that he will mount a third White House campaign, launching an early start to the 2024 contest. The announcement comes just a week after an and will force the party to decide whether to embrace a candidate whose refusal to accept defeat in 2020
B次元官网网址淚n order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,B次元官网网址� Trump said to an audience of several hundred supporters, club members and gathered press in a chandeliered ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago club, where he stood flanked by more than 30 American flags and banners bearing his B次元官网网址淢ake America Great AgainB次元官网网址� slogan.
B次元官网网址淚 am running because I believe the world has not yet seen the true glory of what this nation can be,B次元官网网址� Trump said.
B次元官网网址淲e will again put America first,B次元官网网址� he added.
Trump enters the race in a moment of political vulnerability. He hoped to launch his campaign in the wake of resounding GOP midterm victories, fueled by candidates he elevated during this yearB次元官网网址檚 primaries. Instead, many of those candidates lost, allowing Democrats to keep the Senate and leaving the GOP with a path to only a bare majority in the House.
Far from the undisputed leader of the party, Trump is now facing criticism from some of his own allies, who say itB次元官网网址檚 time for Republicans to look to the future, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis emerging as an early favorite White House contender.
The former president is still popular with the GOP base. But other Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence, are taking increasingly public steps toward campaigns of their own, raising the prospect that Trump will have to navigate a competitive GOP primary.
HeB次元官网网址檚 launching his candidacy amid a series of escalating criminal investigations, including several that could lead to indictments. They include the probe into dozens of documents with classified markings that were from Mar-a-Lago and ongoing state and federal inquiries into his efforts to of the 2020 presidential election.
Another campaign is a remarkable turn for any former president, much less one who made history as the first to be impeached twice and whose term ended with his supporters violently storming the Capitol in a deadly bid to halt the peaceful transition of power on Jan. 6, 2021.
But Trump, according to people close to him, to politics and try to halt the rise of other potential challengers. Aides have spent the last months readying paperwork, identifying potential staff and sketching out the contours of a campaign that is being modeled on his 2016 operation, when a small clutch of aides zipping between rallies on his private jet defied the odds and defeated far better-funded and more experienced rivals by tapping into deep political fault lines and using shocking statements to drive relentless media attention.
Even after GOP losses, Trump remains the most powerful force in his party. For years he has consistently topped his fellow Republican contenders by wide margins in hypothetical head-to-head matchups. And even out of office, he consistently attracts thousands to his rallies and remains his partyB次元官网网址檚 most prolific fundraiser, raising hundreds of millions of dollars.
READ MORE:
But Trump is also a deeply polarizing figure. Fifty-four percent of voters in last weekB次元官网网址檚 midterm elections viewed him very or somewhat unfavorably, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 94,000 voters nationwide. And an October AP-NORC poll found even Republicans have their reservations about him remaining the partyB次元官网网址檚 standard-bearer, with 43% saying they donB次元官网网址檛 want to see him run for president in 2024.
TrumpB次元官网网址檚 candidacy poses profound questions about AmericaB次元官网网址檚 democratic future. The final days of his presidency were consumed by a desperate effort to stay in power, undermining the centuries-old tradition of a peaceful transfer. And in the two years since he lost, TrumpB次元官网网址檚 persistent B次元官网网址� and baseless B次元官网网址� lies about widespread election fraud have eroded confidence in the nationB次元官网网址檚 political process. By late January 2021, about two-thirds of Republicans said they did not believe President Joe Biden was legitimately elected in 2020, an AP-NORC poll found.
VoteCast showed roughly as many Republican voters in the midterm elections continued to hold that belief.
Federal and state election officials and TrumpB次元官网网址檚 own attorney general have said there is no credible evidence the 2020 election was tainted. The former presidentB次元官网网址檚 allegations of fraud were also roundly rejected by numerous courts, including by judges Trump appointed.
But that didnB次元官网网址檛 stop hundreds of midterm candidates from parroting his lies as they sought to win over his loyal base and score his coveted endorsement. In the end, many of those candidates went on to lose their races in a sign that voters rejected such extreme rhetoric.
While some Republicans with presidential ambitions, like former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, have long ruled out running against Trump, others have said he would not figure into their decisions, even before his midterm losses.
They include Pence, who released a book Tuesday, and TrumpB次元官网网址檚 former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, as well as former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who ran against Trump in 2016. Other potential candidates include Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Trump is also likely to face challenges from members of the anti-Trump wing of the party like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House committee that has been investigating Jan. 6.
But the person who has most occupied Trump and his allies in recent months is DeSantis, whose commanding reelection as governor last week was a bright spot for Republicans this cycle. The former congressman, who became a popular national figure among conservatives during the pandemic as he pushed back on COVID-19 restrictions, shares TrumpB次元官网网址檚 pugilistic instincts and has embraced fights over social issues with similar zeal.
Even some enthusiastic Trump supporters say they are eager for DeSantis to run, seeing him as a natural successor to Trump but without the former presidentB次元官网网址檚 considerable baggage.
Trump has already begun to lash out at DeSantis publicly. On Tuesday, the Florida governor shot back.
B次元官网网址淎t the end of the day, I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night,B次元官网网址� DeSantis told reporters.
A crowded field of GOP rivals could ultimately play to TrumpB次元官网网址檚 advantage, as it did in 2016, when he prevailed over more than a dozen other candidates who splintered the anti-Trump vote.
TrumpB次元官网网址檚 decision paves the way for a potential rematch with Biden, who has said he intends to run for reelection despite concerns from some in his party over his age and low approval ratings. The two men were already the oldest presidential nominees ever when they ran in 2020. Trump, who is 76, would be 82 at the end of a second term in 2029. Biden, who is about to turn 80, would be 86.
If he is ultimately successful, Trump would be just the second U.S. president in history to serve two nonconsecutive terms, following Grover ClevelandB次元官网网址檚 wins in 1884 and 1892.
But Trump enters the race facing enormous challenges beyond his partyB次元官网网址檚 growing trepidations. The former president is the subject of numerous investigations, including the monthslong probe into the hundreds of documents with classified markings found in boxes at Mar-a-Lago.
Meanwhile, Trump is facing Justice Department scrutiny over efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is investigating what she alleges was B次元官网网址渁 multi-state, coordinated plan by the Trump CampaignB次元官网网址� to influence the 2020 results.
And in New York, Attorney General Letitia James has sued Trump, alleging his namesake company engaged in decadesB次元官网网址� worth of fraudulent bookkeeping by misleading banks about the value of his assets. The Trump Organization is also now on trial, facing criminal tax fraud charges.
Some in TrumpB次元官网网址檚 orbit believe that running will help shield him against potential indictment, but there is no legal statute that would prevent the Justice Department from moving forward B次元官网网址� or prevent Trump from continuing to run if he is charged.
It wasnB次元官网网址檛 any secret what he had been planning.
At a White House Christmas party in December 2020, Trump told guests it had B次元官网网址渂een an amazing four years.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲e are trying to do another four years,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淥therwise, IB次元官网网址檒l see you in four years.B次元官网网址�
Jill Colvin, The Associated Press
Like us on and follow us on
