Trump to return at conservative talkfest
WASHINGTON: Former US president Donald Trump will give a speech this month to a gathering of political conservatives in Orlando, Florida – his first extended public address since leaving the White House on January 20.
The appearance is scheduled for February 28 at the Conservative Political Action Conference, one of the country’s largest annual gatherings of political conservatives.
Mr Trump will reportedly be talking about the future of the Republican Party and the conservative movement.
He is also expected to criticise the amnesty and border policies of his successor, President Joe Biden.
Mr Trump, who was impeached for a second time for his role in fomenting the January 6 assault on the US Capitol, remains a potent political force in the US.
Three-quarters of Republicans want him to play a prominent role in the party, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University.
Since reluctantly departing the White House on January 20 and ceding to Mr Biden – despite his constant but unsubstantiated claims that the election had been stolen – Mr Trump has largely kept to himself at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Stripped of his Twitter megaphone, he called into friendly cable TV news programs last week after the death of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, musing on far-right channel Newsmax about the possibility of a future political run.
“I won’t say yet but we have tremendous support. And I’m looking at poll numbers that are through the roof,” he said.