Trump hints that he will run again for election
In his first speech in the US capital since leaving office, the former president made a strong comeback
‘I ran the first time and I won. Then I ran a second time and I did much better. We may just have to do it again’
DONALD TRUMP last night said he “may just have to” run again after the “catastrophe” of the last election, repeating the false claims that it was stolen.
In his first speech in the US capital since leaving office last year, the former president gave the strongest hint yet that he plans to run again in 2024.
“I ran the first time and I won. Then I ran a second time and I did much better. We got millions and millions more votes. We may just have to do it again,” he told a hundreds-strong audience at an America First Policy Institute summit, insisting despite all evidence that he had won in 2020.
“It was a catastrophe that election. A disgrace to our country,” he said to applause.
When Mr Trump, 75, left the White House in January 2021 under the cloud of the attack on the US Capitol, his future in the Republican Party and American politics was uncertain.
He returned yesterday with his grip on the GOP steadied and talk of a potential 2024 presidential campaign heating up. Trump allies have said the former president could announce a third White House bid as early as this summer, ahead of the crucial November midterm elections. Non-profit America First Policy is one of several right-wing organisations that have continued to push his policies in his absence.
Composed of former Trump administration officials and allies, including its director, Brooke Rollins, who ran the Domestic Policy Council in the Trump White House, it is widely seen as an “administration in waiting” that could quickly move to the West Wing if Trump should run again and win.
Mr Trump has openly flirted with, but so far not declared, a 2024 presidential campaign. Doing so would subject him to campaign-finance requirements.
As he prepared to give his speech yesterday, Mr Trump was far ahead of his nearest potential Republican competitor, Florida Governor Ron Desantis, in 2024 betting markets.
In his characteristic bombastic style, Mr Trump praised China’s “quick trials” and death penalty for drug trafficking in his speech, offering that that was why Beijing did not have a drug problem like the US under President Joe Biden.
In another unscripted moment, Mr Trump made a series of transgender jokes and called for trans athletes to be banned from competing in sport.
“We should not allow men to play women’s sports, it’s so disrespectful to women,” he said to loud applause.
He said “political geniuses” told him “sir, don’t say that, it’s so controversial”.
He then pretended to be a woman lifting a woman, followed by pretending to be a transgender woman lifting the same weights with greater ease.
Mr Trump spoke hours after former vice president Mike Pence, a potential 2024 rival, outlined his own “Freedom Agenda” in a speech nearby.
Mr Pence again implored conservatives to stop looking backward and focus on the future as he mulls his own.
“Some people may choose to focus on the past, but elections are about the future,” Mr Pence said in an address to Young America’s Foundation, a student conservative group. “I believe conservatives must focus on the future to win back America. We can’t afford to take our eyes off the road in front of us because what’s at stake is the very survival of our way of life.”
The former White House partners were making duelling appearances again after campaigning for rival candidates in Arizona on Friday.
Mr Pence fled an angry mob of rioters who called for his hanging after Mr Trump wrongly insisted the vice president had the power to overturn the election results. Mr Pence has repeatedly defended his actions that day, even as his decision to stand up to his boss turned large swathes of Mr Trump’s loyal base against him.
Polls show that Mr Trump remains by far the top choice of GOP primary voters, with his VP far behind.
The former Indiana governor denied the two “differ on issues,” but acknowledged, “we may differ on focus.”