When Donald Trump and His Team Trump Meet: How Trump and his Senators Will Step Toward the White House in the Early Stages of Elections

Donald Trump will begin the next phase of his political career under attack should he announce his third presidential bid on Tuesday.

Even with his loyal base still around, Donald Trump’s quest to return to the Oval Office is likely to be difficult in the months to come, even with the enthusiasm and dread from different corners of his own party. He has spent the days since the midterm elections fending off criticism from fellow Republicans over his ill-fated involvement in key contests, furiously lashing out at two GOP heavyweights who could complicate his path to the White House if they mount their own presidential campaigns, and fretting that he or associates could soon be indicted by federal investigators in two separate Justice Department probes.

Trump is hoping that by entering the presidency in the early part of his term, he can make a difference and inject new energy into a demoralized party that has been suffering due to Republican failures. Many of the Trump-endorsed Republicans who prevailed last Tuesday ran without opposition and were expected to win their races, while a few Senate candidates he endorsed for re-election failed to beat their Democratic opponents.

Three Republican Senate candidates who received support from the Trump administration lost to their Democratic opponents in three different states. Herschel Walker, a Trump friend who is running against Raphael, failed to get 50% of the vote.

On Saturday, CNN projected that Democrats will retain control of the Senate in the 118th Congress, an outcome that has fractured Republicans and left the party on tenterhooks as Trump readies his “big announcement.”

In a Truth Social post last week, Donald Trump mentioned that he had endorsed Youngkin and had a big Trump rally in order to make him want to vote for him.

A true leader understands when they have become a liability, and that is what Earle-Sears said about Trump. A true leader understands that it’s time to step off the stage, and the voters have given us that very clear message.”

According to an aide to the former president, Youngkin knew that she was going to split from Trump before she spoke to The Washington Post.

If Glenn Youngkin wants to run for president, that is up to him. But Team Trump will certainly mount a massive effort to win the Virginia delegates going to Milwaukee that is going to embarrass Youngkin,” said John Fredericks, a Virginia-based conservative radio host who chaired Trump’s campaigns in the state in 2016 and 2020.

Donald Trump rants for a couple of months. DeSantis throws some red meat during [Florida’s next legislative session] and then we have a primary around May,” said one DeSantis ally, describing his current posture

“I know there’s a lot of criticism and people saying, ‘Just focus on Georgia,’ but he figures there’s no point in waiting. If Herschel loses, he’ll be blamed for distracting from the runoff but if he wins, he doesn’t believe he will get any credit for energizing the base,” said a current Trump adviser.

Nobody should be surprised. This is how Trump does primaries,” said Michael Caputo, a former Trump administration official who remains close to the former president. Is this format able to work for him again?

While the former president maintains support from grassroots Republicans, some party’s largest donors are meeting with other potential presidential hopefuls and signaling they want to bankroll alternative candidates. Trump allies are concerned about how to make use of the monstrous amount of cash he has raised since leaving office to become a presidential candidate. Billionaire Ken Griffin, who gave nearly $60 million to federal Republican candidates and campaigns in the 2022 cycle, told Politico in an interview last week that he would support DeSantis if the Florida governor tosses his hat into the ring for the 2024 GOP nod. Two other Republican donors who gave to Trump in 2016 and 2020 and requested anonymity for fear of retribution told CNN that they, too, were waiting to see what DeSantis decides to do, while one of them said they would also be willing to support former Vice President Mike Pence should he challenge his former boss.

“One of our biggest challenges will be the fundraising component but I do think [Trump] has proved that he doesn’t need deep-pocketed donors, per se,” said a person close to Trump, noting the enduring strength of his small-dollar operation.

Some Trump allies claimed that questions about his stature and donor challenges made it hard for seasoned campaign operatives to join his next campaign. While the president told allies he wants to keep his operation lean, some have privately questioned if it is out of preference or due to recruitment troubles. According to CNN, Trump is expected to helmed his campaign with the help of three current advisers, along with a group of additional aides and advisers, who the former president already knows. His apparatus is expected to dwarf his campaign two years ago, according to multiple sources.

Whatever the case, allies who have remained by his side said they are ready for battle one last time, as Trump works to find his footing on the verge of a presidential campaign that could coast to the party’s nominating convention or encounter unforeseen troubles.

When Ron DeSantis Donors Becomes a Governor: The Courage to Be Free (and What Comes Beyond the Electoral Primary)

More than $55 million was donated to Republican causes by the world’s 42nd wealthiest person, as his presence was felt in the fall’s election. That does not include the millions of dollars he spent in his home state of Pennsylvania ahead of the primary for governor there last year. Mastriano lost the general election because he lost the GOP nomination to Trump.

The checks arrived a month before the soft launch of the run for president by Congressman Ron DeSantis. The campaign style rallies with police officers were held in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, where he regaled the crowd with tales of the culture wars. Ahead of a potential GOP primary clash with Donald Trump, DeSantis will next host a three-day retreat for donors this weekend in Trump’s neighborhood. And his memoir, “The Courage to Be Free,” drops next Tuesday, with plans for a national book tour and events scheduled with GOP activists in Texas, California and Alabama.

The flurry of activity is the clearest sign yet that Ron DeSantis intends to jump into the Republican primary, though he is in no hurry to do so. Even as Trump is trying to derail DeSantis, the governor is planning to wait on a formal announcement until May or June, after state lawmakers hold their annual legislative session. DeSantis seemed to confirm the timeline during a Monday appearance on Fox & Friends.

We are going to sell some books. We’re going to spread the message of Florida. The legislative session is kicking off on March 8. “As we get beyond that, then we decide from there.”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/politics/ron-desantis-donors/index.html

The Second Republican Leadership Summit in Florida, and How Do We Hope to See It Come Together? An Observatoric Perspective on DeSantis’ 2016 Campaign

It will be hard for other would-be GOP candidates to mount a viable bid for the nomination if there is early support from the upper ranks of the party.

In order to raise $213 million for his reelection, the most ever by a non-self-funded gubernatorial candidate, DeSantis collected nearly 300 donations of six figures or higher.

The summit will include policy and strategy sessions during the day and dinner, cocktails and cigars in the evening. It is an opportunity for the GOP money class to see another side of DeSantis who has earned a reputation for avoiding donors at reception and having guests wait for a photo.

A Republican consultant who is well-versed in the planning of the retreat stated that it was the undertone of the whole thing. “He’s showing his people that he appreciates them and they’re in the tent and their voices are meaningful and impactful. I think it’s about strengthening those relationships and showing they care.”

At a stop in Illinois, Joe McGraw, an Illinois circuit court judge, said that while he wasn’t sure of the answer to the question, he did think that DeSantis should seek the GOP presidential nomination.

The pastor and police chaplain said he liked Trump and voted for him a second time, but he also thought the former president was an insufferable narcissist.

“People can see with their own eyes that things are going well in Florida, so I’m not surprised that his message is resonating. If and when he decides to get in he’ll have to convince people that his vision is best for America,” said New York City councilman Joe Borelli, who met with DeSantis during the visit. “I think it’s going to be a tough choice for Republicans. We were glad to see the former president here and we hope he and anyone else can come as well.

Staten Island, which Trump won in New York in 2020, is the only other part of the state he did not win. When he spoke to police officers for 20 minutes, he stopped for bagels, posing for photos and ignoring questions about his political ambitions.