Former president Donald Trump will likely announce his intention to run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination as early as November 14, less than a week after the midterm elections, according to multiple reports.
Trump is planning to time his announcement to capitalize on the expected wave of post-midterm Republican momentum, Axios and the New York Times reported. An early announcement would also give him an advantage over fellow Republicans who are waiting to see what the former president does before jumping into the race.
At a rally Thursday night in Sioux City, Iowa Trump alluded to the announcement. “In order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again…Get ready that’s all I’m telling you—very soon. Get ready,” Trump told the crowd.
Key Trump allies have blocked off several calendar days during the projected week of Trump’s forthcoming announcement to be prepared for any ensuing travel or events that will follow in its wake, Axios reported.
Reince Priebus, Trump’s former chief of staff told the Associated Press, “I’m like 95 percent [sure] he’s going to run.”
“The real question,” he added, “is are other big challengers going to run? If President Trump runs, he will be very difficult for any Republican to defeat.”
Kellyanne Conway, another former Trump adviser, said Thursday that Trump would “announce soon” his plans to run for president.
The former president has piggybacked off of the tightly-contested midterm elections to campaign across the United States and support various candidates. According to the AP, Trump has traveled to 30 rallies in nearly 20 states as the midterms rapidly approach. Trump also recently launched a new super PAC that has spent over $16.4 million across tight races in battleground states.
During the speech in Iowa, Trump also repeated the unfounded accusation that widespread voter fraud deprived him of reelection in 2020. “I ran twice…I won twice, and did much better the second time than I did the first, getting millions more votes in 2020 than I got in 2016,” Trump said.