OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The question of whether former President Donald Trump will run for the White House once again appears to have been answered, according to several recent reports.
The only question remaining, however, is when Trump will formally announce.
To that end, a report claimed that Trump is slated to declare his candidacy later this summer or in early fall — ahead of the November midterms.
Last week, Trump told New York Magazine, “Well, in my own mind, I’ve already made that decision, so nothing factors in anymore. In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision.”
That statement was taken by most political observers to mean that Trump is definitely going to run again, leaving only the matter of making it official.
The Washington Post reported:
The former president is now eyeing a September announcement, according to two Trump advisers, who like some others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. One confidant put the odds at “70-30 he announces before the midterms.” And others said he may still decide to announce sooner than September.
Trump has begun talking with advisers about who should run a campaign, and his team has instructed others to have an online apparatus ready for a campaign should he announce soon, two people familiar with the matter said. He also has begun meeting with top donors to talk about the 2024 race, one of these people said, while on trips to various places across the country.
“It’s actually him pushing his advisers to get him ready to announce before or shortly after Labor Day, is the latest timing I’ve been told,” CNN’s Gabby Orr said during a panel discussion over the weekend. Labor Day is Sept. 5.
“If Trump is going to run, the sooner he gets in and talks about winning the next election, the better,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who recently played a round of golf with Trump in New Jersey, told the Post. “It will refocus his attention — less grievance, more about the future.”
Graham also said he believes that Democrats will try to use Trump as a motivator for their own base whether he makes a formal announcement before the midterms or not. He also believes, like other GOP strategists, that an announcement before the midterms will drive Republican voter turnout.
“You might as well get the benefit if you’re going to take the lashes too,” Tony Fabrizio, a Trump pollster working for multiple Senate candidates this election cycle, told the Post. “If you want to energize the base and get the base out, no one does it better than Trump.”
Trump is planning his first trip to Washington, D.C., since he left office. He is scheduled to headline an event July 26 sponsored by the America First Policy Institute.
He is slated to deliver the keynote address at 3 p.m. local time on the second day of the AFPI’s two-day, invitation-only policy summit. The event will be streamed live and open to the press, Newsmax reported.
A 501(C)(3) non-profit research institute, AFPI says its purpose is to advance policies that put the American people first.
“Our guiding principles are liberty, free enterprise, national greatness, American military superiority, foreign-policy engagement in the American interest, and the primacy of American workers, families and communities in all we do,” the group notes on its website.
Other participants include:
- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
- 13 House members, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.
- Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Steve Daines, R-Mont., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., James Lankford, R-Okla., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Rick Scott, R-Fla.
- Eight former Cabinet-level officials, including former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and former Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
- Eight former Trump White House officials including Kudlow, former senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, and Fred Fleitz, former chief of staff to national security adviser John Bolton.
Political consultant Dick Morris, who once advised then-President Bill Clinton, believes Trump is all-in for 2024 and what’s more, he believes Trump will be victorious.
“Will he run in 2024? You bet he will. Will he be the GOP nominee? Absolutely. Will he win the election? Yes,” he wrote in his new book, “The Return.”
“Our candidate in 2024 will be, and must be, Donald J. Trump. Accept no substitutes. Only he can put together the coalition that generated 74 million votes in 2020. And we don’t want a bleached-out, kinder, nicer, gentler Donald Trump, either! We want and need the same Donald Trump who won in 2016, increased his vote share in 2020 by eleven million votes, and in between, was one of our truly great presidents,” he said.
