CBS News has learned that former President Donald Trump has privately told allies and aides in recent days that he is seriously considering announcing his 2024 presidential run early this summer.
Trump’s latest exploration of a political comeback and a possible summer announcement of another presidential campaign was first reported New York times.
Even as Trump approaches 2024, his deliberations remain precarious. According to three people close to Trump who requested anonymity in order to share details about the private conversations, no final decision has been made on whether to run and, if so, when such an offer would be launched.
However, Trump’s Republican allies, former White House and campaign aides told CBS News that they believe early entry for another attempt at Trump’s White House is a possibility. The former president left his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida last month due to his seasonal migration to his club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Several people who spoke to Trump recently told CBS News that Trump and his small group of his closest advisers are now charting different ways for Trump to announce the 2024 campaign, whether it’s in the summer or after this year’s midterm elections. Traditionally, presidential candidates from the major parties wait until well after the fall elections before jumping into presidential campaign mode. Trump’s early launch, before the November elections, could upend the campaign strategies of both parties.
The Republicans were planning to focus on economic issues, particularly high inflation, which is putting financial strains on families across the country. Trump’s early entry into the presidential race may force candidates to focus instead on election fraud, which has been a constant drumbeat for the former president since he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Some Republican activists also worry that entering before the midterms will help Democrats frame the 2022 cycle as a referendum on Trump.
But some of Trump’s associates remain skeptical that the former president will formally announce his candidacy in the coming months. A former senior campaign official said he wouldn’t believe that would happen unless Trump took the elevator down at Trump Tower in New York again, he recalled. Launching his 2016 presidential campaign.
Others close to Trump say his anger towards televised January 6 Committee Hearings It fuels his motivation to run again, potentially announcing soon. Some close to Trump said he feels he is not well defended by Republicans and believes that he alone is best to defend himself.
During Interview with Newsmax Last week, Trump was asked how much of the Jan. 6 panel’s actions were to “prevent you from running again in 2024?”
“I think a lot of them are,” Trump replied. “I’m leading in all the polls — against Republicans and Democrats. I’m leading in Republican polls with numbers no one has ever seen. And against Biden and anyone else who’s running, I’m leading against them.”
“In time, I will say what I want to do,” Trump said of a possible announcement in 2024.
At rallies throughout the midterm session, Trump has, at times, skipped the courtship of another White House race.
“This is the year we’ll take back the House, we’ll take back the Senate, we’ll take back America. And in 2024, and most importantly, we’ll take back what we have from the White House,” Trump said in a typical crunch, during a recent rally in Illinois for Republican Representative candidates Mary Miller and former Senator Darren Bailey, who is running for governor. Both candidates won in their preliminary races on Tuesday.
Finn Gomez
