Springfield News-Sun

Under fire over midterms, Trump launching WH run

- By Jill Colvin

PALM BEACH, FLA. — Former President Donald Trump prepared to launch his third campaign for the White House on Tuesday, looking to move on from disappoint­ing midterm defeats and defy history amid signs that his grip on the Republican Party is waning.

Trump had hoped to use the GOP’S expected gains in last week’s elections as a springboar­d to vault himself to his party’s nomination by locking in early support to keep potential challenger­s at bay. Instead, he now finds himself being blamed for backing a series of losing candidates after disappoint­ing results in which Democrats retained control of the Senate and House control remains too early to call.

“Hopefully, tomorrow will turn out to be one of the most important days in the history of our Country!” Trump wrote on his social media network on Monday. An announceme­nt was expected at 9 p.m. EST Tuesday from his club in Palm Beach.

Another campaign is a remarkable turn for any former president, much less one who made history as the first to be impeached twice and whose term ended with his supporters violently storming the U.S. Capitol in a deadly bid to halt the peaceful transition of power on Jan. 6, 2021. Just one president in U.S. history has been elected to two nonconsecu­tive terms: Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892.

Trump is also facing a series of intensifyi­ng criminal investigat­ions, including a Justice Department probe into the hundreds of documents with classified markings that were discovered in boxes and drawers at his Mar-a-lago club.

Aides and allies had urged Trump to wait until after the midterms were over — and then until after a Dec. 6 Senate runoff election in Georgia — to announce his plans. But Trump, eager to return to the spotlight, is also hoping to stave off a long list of potential challenger­s, including Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, who cruised to reelection last week and is now being urged by many in his party to run for president a well.

While Trump has the backing of the No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik, others were already moving on.

Asked whether she would endorse Trump in 2024, Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming told reporters Monday: “I don’t think that’s the right question. I think the question is, who is the current leader of the Republican Party?”

Asked who that was, she replied: “Ron Desantis.”

 ?? AP ?? Former President Donald Trump looks to move on from disappoint­ing midterm defeats and defy history amid signs his grip on the Republican Party is waning.
AP Former President Donald Trump looks to move on from disappoint­ing midterm defeats and defy history amid signs his grip on the Republican Party is waning.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States