Should Donald Trump announce his third presidential bid on Tuesday, as widely expected, he will begin the next phase of his political career under siege.
Seven years ago, the New York businessman entered the political fray on defense, working hard to emerge as a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination to the disbelief of veteran politicians and his primary rivals. This time, Trump takes the plunge as the party’s undisputed front-runner, but he’s once again on the defensive.
On the brink of a campaign that is drawing excitement and trepidation from different corners of his party, Trump’s bid to return to the Oval Office will face untold obstacles in the coming months, even with his loyal base firmly intact. He spent the days since the midterm elections fending off criticism from Republicans about his unfortunate involvement in key contests, furiously hitting out at two GOP heavyweights who could complicate his path to the White House if they launch their own presidential campaigns and worried that he or his associates could soon be indicted by federal investigators in two separate Justice Department probes.
Aides say Trump hopes his early entry into the 2024 presidential primary will reframe the debate away from Republican failures and reinvigorate a demoralized party amid the GOP’s failure to seize control of Senate and win a fairly large majority in the House. Although the former president touted his more than 200 election night victories, many of the Trump-endorsed Republicans who prevailed last Tuesday ran unchallenged or were widely expected to win their contests, while several Senate candidates who approved in prestigious races they did not make it. dethrone their Democratic opponents or flip open seats in the GOP column.
Mehmet Oz, Adam Laxalt and Blake Masters, three Republican Senate candidates who won Trump’s endorsement in their primaries, lost to Democratic challengers in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona, respectively. Meanwhile, Herschel Walker, a longtime Trump friend who is challenging Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, is headed for a December runoff after both failed to reach 50 percent of support in Georgia.
On Saturday, CNN predicted that Democrats would retain control of the Senate in the 118th Congress, an outcome that split Republicans and left the party on edge as Trump prepares his “big announcement.”
Trump, who right after the midterms admitted his party had a “somewhat disappointing” showing, has already moved on, aiming to win a second term in Washington and attack two GOP governors who could challenge the status of as the host of the party in the coming months, Ron DeSantis of Florida and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.
“I endorsed him, I gave him a really big Trump Rally on the phone, I got MAGA to vote for him — or he wouldn’t have come close to winning,” Trump said of Youngkin in a Truth Social post last week.
Three sources familiar with the matter said the former president believed Youngin was backing up comments made by his deputy, Winsom Earle-Shears, during an appearance on Fox Business last week. He told the network that he would not support Trump if he runs for president for a third time.
In response to repeated questions about Trump’s impending announcement in 2024, Earle-Sears said: “A true leader understands when a liability has become. A true leader understands that it is time to step off the stage and the voters have given us that very clear message.”
Sears later declined to tell The Washington Post whether Youngkin knew before the interview that she planned to divorce Trump, a detail that caught the former president’s attention, according to one of his aides.
“If Glenn Youngin decides to run for president, that’s his choice. But the Trump team is definitely going to make a huge effort to win over Virginia delegates going to Milwaukee that will put Youngin in a difficult position,” said John Fredericks, a Virginia-based conservative radio host who has chaired his campaigns Trump in the state in 2016 and 2020.
The former president’s criticism of Youngkin, whose 2021 gubernatorial bid he endorsed against former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, came after a barrage of insults from Trump against DeSantis, the popular Florida governor who refused to rule out a campaign in 2024 against the former President and increasingly appears to be laying the groundwork for one. In the space of a week, Trump went from introducing a derogatory new nickname for the Florida governor (“DeSanctimonious”) to responding to Republican demands that he tone down his domestic criticism of DeSantis ahead of Election Day , in a scathing statement. after DeSantis’ re-election, calling him a “moderate Republican governor.”
Allies of DeSantis said they don’t expect the Florida governor to engage at all with Trump’s attacks as long as he can avoid it. In two Nicole-related press conferences that DeSantis held after his 19-point re-election, he did not report midterm totals or take questions. Notably, he has also avoided taking a victory lap on Fox News, which would no doubt be asking about Trump in 2024 as well, since he appeared frequently on the network while campaigning for re-election.
“Trump has been arguing for a few months. DeSantis throws in some red meat during [Florida’s next legislative session] and then we have primaries around May,” said a DeSantis ally, describing his current stance
Asked how long the governor could go without acknowledging Trump’s attacks, a second DeSantis ally said simply: “Too long.”
Trump’s bitter criticism of Youngkin and DeSandis, two up-and-coming Republican celebrities, was a stark reminder of the caustic politics he brings to the campaign trail without regard for how it might affect his own party. His first use of “DeSanctimonious” came just days before the Florida governor appeared on the ballot in his re-election bid. And much to the chagrin of top Republicans, including some of Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, his announcement Tuesday comes as the party tries to prevent Senate Democrats from securing a 51-seat majority in the Georgia runoff.
“I know there’s a lot of criticism and people saying, ‘Just focus on Georgia,’ but he doesn’t think there’s any point in waiting. If Herschel loses, he will be blamed for the distraction from the runoff, but if he wins, he doesn’t think he’ll get credit for energizing the base,” a current Trump adviser said.
Some of Trump’s closest allies said Republicans should brace for a major escalation in his attacks on rumored GOP challengers now that he is a declared presidential candidate, meaning he could intensify his criticism of DeSantis, Youngkin or others while the party fights for Walker’s survival. Agriculture.
“No one should be surprised. That’s how Trump runs primaries,” said Michael Caputo, a former Trump administration official who remains close to the former president. “The question you have to ask is whether that format can work for him again.”
Of course, Trump hasn’t engaged in a hotly contested primary since 2016, when he unleashed broadsides against more than a dozen opponents with a fury and bravado that shocked some Republican observers but delighted a segment of the Republican primary electorate that would later develop to his loyal base. Few of Trump’s allies expect him to behave differently in the coming months. Even if he remains the only declared candidate until others enter the fray next year, he will continue his preemptive fight against perceived challengers.
“Donald Trump will make sure that every Republican candidate is well vetted,” said a senior Trump aide.
“No one is going to get a free pass. It’s going to be brutal,” the Trump adviser added.
The possibility that Trump will face primary challengers may be the least of his worries at this juncture.
While the former president retains significant support from grassroots Republicans, some of the party’s biggest donors are meeting with other potential presidential candidates and signaling they may be interested in funding alternative candidates. It’s a concern Trump’s allies are confronting head-on as they privately explore ways to make available to him the monstrous pile of cash he’s amassed since leaving office as a presidential candidate. Billionaire Ken Griffin, who has given nearly $60 million to federal Republican candidates and campaigns in the 2022 cycle, told Politico in an interview last week that he would support DeSantis if the Florida governor throws his hat into the ring for the 2024 GOP nod. Two other Republican donors who gave to Trump in 2016 and 2020 and spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation told CNN they too were waiting to see what DeSantis decides to do, while one of them said he would he was also willing to support the former Vice President. President Mike Pence should challenge his former boss.
“One of our biggest challenges will be the fundraising component, but I think [Trump] he’s proven he doesn’t need deep-pocketed donors, per se,” said one person close to Trump, noting the enduring strength of his small-dollar business.
Trump will also have to convince Republicans that he would be an asset at the top of the ballot in 2024 as opposed to a…
