Trump advisers plan possible 2024 candidacy announcement

Washington (Trends Wide) — Senior advisers to former President Donald Trump have argued that the third week of November could be ideal for launching his 2024 presidential campaign, provided Republicans do well in the midterm elections, sources familiar with the matter told Trends Wide.

Two sources said Trump’s team has specifically discussed Nov. 14 as a possible announcement date, which would come in the midst of a long-scheduled overseas trip to Asia by President Joe Biden. Trump is unlikely to make the announcement before that Monday, even if the GOP exceeds expectations on election night, to avoid overshadowing his daughter Tiffany’s Nov. 12 wedding at Mar-a-Lago and because he doesn’t want to share a news cycle with the results of the midterm elections, the sources said.

These sources also warned that no date has been set and that Trump could push it back if control of the Senate remains undecided after Election Day or if Republicans make less-than-overwhelming gains in their House races. Although there has been some debate over where Trump should launch his next White House bid, a person familiar with the matter said his team has not yet made a decision on the venue and is still thinking about the possibility. to make an announcement close to home, in Palm Beach, Florida, where he has based his political operation since leaving Washington, or in a so-called Rust Belt battle zone, like Ohio or Pennsylvania.

In a statement to Trends Wide, Taylor Budowich, a Trump spokesman, declined to comment “on the endless speculation and rumours.”

The former president has long viewed the period after the midterm elections, before Thanksgiving, as a window of opportunity to launch his next political act. As Trends Wide previously reported, Trump expects the GOP to make significant gains on election night and wants to capitalize on the momentum that comes out of Tuesday if his prediction holds up, especially if the candidates he has handpicked for the Senate prevail in the races. key races in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Ohio and Georgia. Trump has also expressed his interest in announcing his candidacy before the end of the year to put his potential rivals for the 2024 race on notice.

One of them, former Vice President Mike Pence, is due to publish a book on his time in office on November 15 and recently said “there might be someone else I would prefer more” as the next Republican presidential nominee, fueling speculation that he intends to challenge to his old boss.

At a rally Thursday in Iowa, Trump told the public to “get ready” for his return to the presidential campaign, saying he would “very, very, very likely do it again,” referring to the White House bid.

It was his latest attempt to put Republicans on notice without directly announcing a third campaign before Election Day, something House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other senior Republicans had previously encouraged. Trump to refrain from doing.

“I give him a ton of credit for not announcing this year [y] for not getting in the way of the midterm candidates. I’m glad you didn’t. That was certainly my advice from the beginning,” former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters at an event Thursday morning.

News of Trump’s possible announcement on November 14 was first reported by Axios.

An announcement from Trump later this month would come as he continues to navigate several high-profile investigations that could heat up again after Election Day, when the Justice Department ends its traditional pre-Election Day quiet period and could start announcing allegations of Trump associates who were involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The former president remains under investigation for bringing classified government documents to Mar-a-Lago at the end of his presidency and was recently subpoenaed by the House Select Committee for his testimony and documents related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Meanwhile, Trump is also facing an ongoing investigation by Fulton County prosecutors into his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Justice Department officials have discussed whether a Trump candidacy would create the need for a special prosecutor to oversee two sprawling federal investigations related to the former president, sources familiar with the matter told Trends Wide.

— Evan Perez, Katelyn Polantz and Jeremy Herb contributed reporting.