Chris Sununu, the Republican governor of New Hampshire, who was easily re-elected in the midterm elections, said it was a “stupid decision.” Mr Sununu said: “I think what the former president does not understand is that if he announces, he is not going to keep anyone out of the race. “But nobody else is going to announce until the summer or fall for a number of fundraising reasons and all that. “Well, it’s going to be a really awkward thing with just him in the match. Nobody’s going to really care. It’s just going to be weird.”
“Very big announcement”
Some Republican candidates, including Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, have said they will not run against Trump in 2024. However, many others refused to rule out doing so. That includes Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Youngkin, Mike Pence, the former vice president, and Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state. They can afford to wait many months and pick a moment to declare when Mr. Trump will be on the back foot. Trump, who will be 78 when the next election is held, said he would make a “very big announcement” on Tuesday at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He hoped to ride a Republican “red wave” of victories in the midterms that would be the starting point for his new presidential campaign. But that didn’t happen, and a series of electoral setbacks included the loss of Mehmet Oz, the TV doctor Mr. Trump had endorsed in a key Senate race in Pennsylvania.
Trump was subpoenaed for the January 6 riots
Meanwhile, on Friday, Trump’s lawyers sued the congressional committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. Trump was subpoenaed to testify and provide documents to the committee. Arguing that he should not, his lawyers said no president or former president has ever been forced to comply with a congressional subpoena, although some have done so voluntarily. They said: “Long-standing precedent and practice hold that the separation of powers prohibits Congress from compelling a president to testify before it.”
