Donald Trump will declare that he is running for president sometime in the coming days, possibly as early as November 14, reports said Friday.
The rumored timeline suggests that Trump may be looking to capitalize on the momentum of a widely anticipated red wave in the upcoming midterm elections.
Trump to declare run for presidency
It’s also possible that Trump wants to pre-empt a criminal indictment from the Biden Justice Department, which is leading several controversial investigations into Trump that the former president has called politically motivated.
The probes include an investigation into records that were seized in an unprecedented FBI raid of Trump’s home.
Sources close to Trump told Axios that Trump’s announcement could be “possibly followed by a multi-day series of political events.” Republicans had pleaded with Trump to delay any announcement until after the midterms, fearful the news would overshadow Republicans’ messaging on Biden’s failures.
Trump has repeatedly hinted at running again since leaving office, but he dropped maybe his strongest signal yet while stumping for Republicans in Iowa Thursday.
“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.”
Comeback?
The polls show Trump neck-and-neck with his likely 2024 rival Joe Biden, who has suffered a dramatic decline in popularity since his term began almost two years ago.
Speculation persists concerning whether Biden will even be healthy enough to run in 2024, given his advanced age and obvious cognitive challenges. For his part, Trump remains the dominant figure in the GOP and most polls show him leading the 2024 Republican presidential primary by a comfortable margin.
There is also plenty of speculation — and on the left, palpable dread — building over whether Trump will return to Twitter now that Elon Musk has taken over the company.
Musk has said banned accounts, including Trump’s, won’t be back for a “few weeks,” which would conceivably prevent Trump from using the platform to publicize his White House run should he declare on November 14.
If Trump were to return to Twitter at some point in the future, it would doubtless turbocharge his presidential campaign — but Trump has said he isn’t interested.