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Donald Trump’s top political staffers at Mar-a-Lago are pressing him to move forward with his planned 2024 presidential campaign announcement next week, but other allies are suggesting delaying until after the Senate runoff in Georgia in December, according to sources.
The former US president has been forced to reckon with Republican blame for underwhelming performances from rightwing candidates he endorsed in the midterm elections, with the defeat of Republican candidate Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, contributing to uncertainty over which party will control the Senate.
Mr Trump has suggested publicly that he intends to announce his 2024 presidential campaign next week as planned. Behind the scenes at Mar-a-Lago, in a sign of concern about his standing after disappointing results in the midterms, he remains undecided on how to proceed.
However, some initial invites for the “Special Announcement” event have been sent.
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Mr Trump’s top staffers have firmly pressed him to announce his latest White House campaign as planned on Tuesday, the sources said, suggesting he would appear weak and wounded by the results were he to cave to demands that he hold off until the Senate runoff early next month.
Mr Trump also has no upside in waiting until the Senate runoff, where his handpicked Republican candidate Herschel Walker trails Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock. His staffers are said to have told him: if Mr Walker wins, he can take credit, and if Mr Walker loses, his position would be no different.
The initial plan was to have Mr Trump announce his candidacy on Tuesday and turn the campaign launch into a several-day affair, the sources said – though it was always on the assumption that Republicans would surf a “red wave” in the midterms that did not ultimately materialise.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who routed his Democratic challenger on Tuesday, may opt to challenge Mr Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination.
Mr DeSantis spent election night celebrating his mammoth re-election in Florida, with some supporters chanting for him to run as president.
Mr Trump has long viewed Mr DeSantis as a threat and started attacking him before the Florida governor’s race was called, warning him against running for president in 2024 under the threat that he would release damaging information about his personal life.
In a furious and rambling statement on Thursday night, Trump tore into Mr DeSantis: “The Fake News asks him if he’s going to run if President Trump runs, and he says, ‘I’m only focused on the governor’s race, I’m not looking into the future.’ Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer.”
Hundreds of thousands of uncounted votes in Arizona and Nevada hold the key to control of the US Senate three days after Americans cast their final ballots in midterm elections.
Either Democrats or Republicans can capture a Senate majority by sweeping the contests in both states. A split, however, would transform a December 6th runoff Senate election in Georgia into a proxy battle for the chamber, which among other powers holds sway over President Joe Biden’s judicial appointments.
Meanwhile, Republicans were slowly inching closer to wresting control of the House of Representatives from Mr Biden’s Democrats, which would effectively give them veto power over his legislative agenda and allow them to open a number of investigations into his administration.
Republicans had secured at least 211 of the 218 House seats they need for a majority, Edison Research projected late on Thursday, while Democrats had won 197. That left 27 races yet to be determined, including a number of close contests.
The Republican House leader, Kevin McCarthy, has already announced his intention to run for speaker if Republicans take over, an outcome he described as inevitable on Wednesday.
Mr Biden told reporters on Thursday he and Mr McCarthy had spoken but said he had not yet abandoned hope that Democrats could still prevail in the House, despite the tough odds.
“It’s still alive,” he said of their chances.
The outcome of the Arizona and Nevada Senate races, where Democratic incumbents were trying to fend off Republican challengers, may not be known for days yet. Officials in both states have said it could take until next week to finish tallying uncounted mail ballots. – Agencies