Former US President Donald Trump is expected to formally file another White House bid on Tuesday, refusing to fade calls from his own Republican party after his supporters underperformed in this year’s midterm elections.
The 76-year-old billionaire, whose 2016 win shocked America and the world, has called the press to his Florida mansion for a “very big announcement” on Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday).
“President Trump will announce on Tuesday that he is running for president,” said one of his advisers, Jason Miller, who predicts the speech will be “very professional, very buttoned up.”
Known for his unpredictability, Trump could change his mind at the last minute, but for months he has barely concealed his desire to run for the presidency again in 2024.
Postponing the announcement now, as some of his advisers have reportedly suggested, would be highly uncomfortable for Trump, who has described it as “perhaps the most important speech in US history.”
– ‘Red Wave’ crashes –
A White House bid in 2024 would be Trump’s third presidential campaign and, if he wins his party’s nomination, his fifth national election with him as the Republican Party standard-bearer.
In 2016, Trump and the Republicans came to power, seized control of the White House and maintained their majorities in both houses of Congress.
But Democrats won back the House of Representatives in a landslide in 2018 after largely fighting Trump’s caustic style.
Trump then lost re-election in 2020 to Democrat Joe Biden — Trump still refuses to accept defeat — while Democrats seized control of the 100-seat Senate with a de facto majority due to Vice President Kamala’s landmark vote Harris in the chamber division won 50-50.
After leaving Washington in chaos shortly after his partisans stormed the US Capitol, Trump chose to remain in the political arena and continue to raise funds and hold rallies across the country.
Ahead of the 2022 midterm vote, where Biden’s Democrats were expected to lose easily, Trump made rejecting the 2020 election results a key litmus test for candidates to win his influential political support.
But the predicted Republican “red wave” failed to materialize, and Democrats will retain control of the Senate. In the still undecided House of Representatives, the Republicans are likely to win only a wafer-thin majority.
The results have emboldened Trump’s Republican critics and weakened most of his political momentum heading into Tuesday’s campaign start.
– ‘Three Strikes’ –
“It’s basically the third straight election that Donald Trump has cost us the race and it’s like, three strikes and you’re out,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a vocal Trump critic, said Sunday on CNN.
Trump’s response was to double down on unsubstantiated allegations of vote-rigging in the midterm elections, posting on his Truth Social platform that the results were a “fraud” — and pointing the finger at Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
“It’s Mitch McConnell’s fault,” he wrote, saying the Kentuckian misallocated campaign funds and pursued a flawed legislative agenda.
“He screwed up the midterms and everyone despises him,” said Trump, who has long been at odds with McConnell.
Tuesday’s announcement is widely seen as a way to take the wind out of the sails of potential Republican rivals, namely Ron DeSantis, the newly re-elected Florida governor and rising star who has also garnered the support of Rupert Murdoch’s conservative media empire.
Trump’s new White House pursuit is also hampered by the numerous investigations into his behavior before, during and after the presidency – which could lead to his disqualification.
These include allegations of fraud by his family business, his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and his handling of classified documents at his Florida home, which was raided by the FBI in August.
But the former president is no stranger to scandal and has even survived two impeachments because of his continued support for Republicans in Congress.
The 2024 election could also prove to be a repeat of 2020, with Biden reiterating on Wednesday that he intends to run for re-election.
But despite the strong halftime results, some Democrats continue to call for Biden to sit out due to his age and unpopularity. Biden, 80, said he will make a final decision next year.
