Former President Donald Trump bashed President Biden, railed against Big Tech companies, and hinted that he would run for reelection in 2024. For 90 minutes, he delivered the sort of speech his supporters hope can power him back to the White House.
Just one question: Will he actually do it?
“He was never going to use that platform to announce he was running,” said a former Trump adviser. “It’s the art of the tease.”
Cocooned in the sunshine of Florida, splitting his time between his home and office at Mar-a-Lago and his nearby golf club, locals say he has cut a relaxed figure as he decompressed from his last, turbulent weeks in office.
On Sunday evening, after delivering a wide-ranging speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando that was akin to any of his wild campaign rallies, he was back at his West Palm Beach golf club for “fish night.” Trump was spotted dining with his social media guru, Dan Scavino, and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows before leaving early to call into Fox News.
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His loyal former White House aides likely were delighted at his positive reception and a straw poll from CPAC suggesting he is the favorite for the nomination the next time the Republican Party selects a candidate.
It places firmly at the head of the party — but with a big decision to make about 2024.
“Trumpworld” insiders who feared the former president had lost too much appeal after his supporters attacked the United States Capitol have turned bullish on his 2024 chances.
“There’s a less than zero chance that the Republican nominee isn’t either Donald Trump or somebody that Donald Trump anoints or approves or endorses,” said a former senior White House official.
But for Trump skeptics, the danger is a conservative movement that stands frozen in his shadow for two years as he very publicly dangles the idea of another presidential run.
Matt Lewis, author of Too Dumb to Fail: How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections, said: “Regardless of whether he actually runs again, though, it seems pretty obvious to me, based partly on his CPAC speech, that he will ‘tease’ that he is running. This will give him the buzz and attention and relevance that he so desperately craves.”
First, come next year’s midterm elections. Trump and his team are reportedly working on plans for a manifesto for candidates and a mechanism by which he can throw his weight and financing behind those that share his “America first” populist agenda while settling scores with Republicans who backed his impeachment.
While onstage at CPAC, the former president declared: “Now more than ever is the time for tough, strong, and energetic Republican leaders, with spines of steel, we need strong leadership. We cannot have leaders who show more passion for condemning their fellow Americans than they have ever shown for standing up to Democrats.”
A positive showing and a big fundraising push would all be pluses in the “run” column.
But Trump’s decision would also be based on factors closer to home, said Sam Nunberg, a former adviser. He first worked for Trump in 2011 as a political and public affairs consultant. Back then, Nunberg found politics generally took second place for Trump, with business deals and television interests such as The Apprentice ranking higher.
“It remains to be seen what he has in terms of his business interests, and he has been completely canceled out of pop-left culture,” he said. “I could see him running because he is competitive and he cares about the country, but he also doesn’t have other options of what to do.”
Trump’s appearance at CPAC has silenced one avenue of thought, at least for now. Some in Trumpworld had pondered whether the former president’s second impeachment meant the movement’s best interests lay in finding and anointing a successor to carry the Trump torch.
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But the former White House adviser said Sunday’s speech had been heavy with policy — immigration, energy independence, electoral reform — suggesting it was wrong to see the movement as little more than a cult of personality.
“Whether it’s Donald Trump or somebody else carrying the banner in 2024, what really matters for the future of the movement are the issues that made the movement,” he said. “I think Trump making clear he’s going to continue to push those issues is a very important ingredient for Republicans whether he runs or not.”
