Hardly gone and already on his way back. Next Sunday, Donald Trump will announce his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, during his first public appearance since leaving the White House. According to sources close to the American billionaire, cited by Axios, the former president is preparing to present himself as the “presumptive nominee” for the Republican Party in 2024, in a new “show of force” aimed at reminding his detractors, including those at the heart of the party, that he is still in control.
The announcement, expected during an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which is being held in Orlando on Sunday, comes more than two weeks after the former president’s acquittal in his second impeachment trial and at a moment where the party is deeply divided on its future, after the electoral defeat in November and the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, carried out by those loyal to Trump.
The former president’s return will, however, be complicated due to the court cases that are likely to catch up with him. On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected his request to prevent the handing over of his financial records to a judge in New York as part of multiple ongoing cases. One of them was in relation to loans made to the Trump Organization; the other was regarding payments to two of the billionaire’s alleged mistresses. The financial documents could confirm suspicions of fraud and embezzlement and could lead to charges being brought against the former president.
By way of a statement, Trump promised on Monday that he would “continue to fight” against the Justice Department, while denouncing the decision of the country’s highest court, still under the influence of ultra-conservatives after the last nomination he made. Trump stated, “[This] is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State, completely controlled and dominated by a heavily reported enemy of mine, Governor Andrew Cuomo.” It should be noted that the decision made by the Supreme Court was supported by two judges nominated by Trump, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
It is in this climate of defeat that Trump will meet with his advisers this week in Mar-a-Lago to organize his first speech, during which he is preparing to state that he may no longer “be on Twitter, or in the Oval Office” but “I’m still in charge,” according to a longtime adviser, cited by Axios.
“Trump effectively is the Republican Party,” Jason Miller, Trump’s senior adviser, told the online publication. “The only chasm is between Beltway insiders and grassroots Republicans across the country,” and “When you attack President Trump, you’re attacking the Republican grassroots.”
Like he did in 2016, Trump seeks to portray himself on Sunday as an unconventional politician once again going to war against the powers in Washington that, according to him, caused his loss by stealing the election from him in November. However, there is no evidence to support this claim of fraud.
As it so happens, the announcement of Trump’s candidacy will come at the end of the week that saw deaths related to COVID-19 exceed half a million in the United States. The Republican’s resistance, such as his denial of the pandemic and methods of its prevention during the last year of his term, in part explains the extent of the damage.
A Divided Party
The divisions at the core of the Republican Party are accentuated between those who wish to turn the page on the Trump years and those who still support the self-proclaimed billionaire in his bid to reclaim Congress in 2022 and the White House in 2024. The Republican representatives who dared to defy the leader by voting for or calling for his impeachment have been criticized by the party’s regional bodies in recent days.
Additionally, tens of thousands of party members have decided to leave the party in the wake of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. At the president’s request, supporters of Trump then launched themselves against the executive branch* to derail the certification of the vote confirming Biden’s election.
But the former reality TV star still remains in the saddle at the head of the party, with 59% of Republicans stating that they want Trump as leader of the party in 2024, according to a study published last week. On Sunday, a survey carried out by the University of Suffolk and USA Today showed that 46% of the same Republicans would be ready to follow him if he decided to launch his own political party.
As well as this, Trump has promised to oppose Republican officials who have publicly spoken out against him in the past few weeks, by opposing them with candidates of his choice in the coming primaries and the 2022 midterms in multiple states.
*Editor’s note: The Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol attempted to interfere with the certification of the presidential election by Congress, the legislative branch. The certification vote was presided over by Vice President Mike Pence.
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