WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is starting 2022 on a high. Primary candidates flocked to Florida to court the former president for the coveted endorsement. His rally drew thousands. A bevy of investigations remain largely under the radar.
A year later, Trump is facing a very different reality.
He is caught up in a criminal investigation that could end in an indictment. He has been blamed for the Republicans’ disappointing performance in the November election. And while he is now the declared presidential candidate, the six weeks since his announcement have been marked by a self-inflicted crisis. Trump has not held a single campaign event and he has barely left the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Instead of rejecting the challengers, the potential rivals of 2024 seem more enthusiastic. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, fresh from a resounding reelection victory, is increasingly seen as Trump’s most formidable competition.
Trump’s independent campaign announcement has even left former stalwarts wondering if he is serious about another run for the White House.
“There’s a movie called ‘Failure to Launch.’ I think this is what Donald Trump’s running process has gone too far. He had the announcement, and he never did anything to support it,” said Michael Biundo, a GOP operator who advised Trump’s 2016 campaign but now it is clear.
“What campaign?” asked longtime GOP donor Dan Eberhart, who gave $100,000 to Trump’s 2020 re-election effort but is now pulling DeSantis. “Trump’s initial launch appears to be more a reaction to DeSantis’ performance and legal strategy against prosecutors than a political campaign.”
Trump campaign officials confirmed they have spent the week since the November 15 announcement methodically building out political operations. Trump, they noted, announced before the holiday season, when politicians usually lie, and he did so unusually, giving him plenty of time to rise.
“This is a marathon and our game plan is by design,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said.
“We are also assembling top-level teams in early voting states and expanding our extensive data operations to ensure we dominate in all areas,” he said. “We’re not going to play the media game of trying to dictate how the campaign works.”
Trump also defended criticism of his slow start to the campaign. “The rally will be bigger and better than ever (because our Country is going to Hell), but it’s still early days, don’t you think?” he wrote on a social media site.
While he avoids campaign events, the former president still stirs controversy.
There was dinner with the white nationalist and rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who has been spouting antisemitic tropes and conspiracies; suggestions which part of the Constitution will end to return to power; and a “major announcement” which was the launch of a $99 digital trading card that did not benefit the campaign.
Since the announcement, he has also suffered a number of legal losses, including the appointment of a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation into the existence of classified documents at the Trump estate in Florida as well as key aspects of a separate investigation involving Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. A company named after Trump was indicted for tax fraud last month for helping executives avoid taxes on lavish perks. In Georgia, a special grand jury appears to be completing its work to investigate attempts to stay in power.
Trump’s potential rivals have spent months laying the groundwork for their own campaigns, visiting early voting states, speaking before conservative groups and building the kind of relationships that could benefit them.
Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, an Iowa-based conservative group, pointed to Republicans such as former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who have visited repeatedly. country.
“He’s done the preliminary work necessary to get out in front of Iowans and be well received,” he said, noting the time since Trump announced his candidacy “has been unusually quiet. In many ways, it’s almost as if the announcement never happened or didn’t happen.” because there was no immediate buzz. … I didn’t hear from people on the ground, ‘I can’t wait for Trump to open.’ ‘Did you hear Trump’s announcement?'”
He called the poor performance of some Trump-backed candidates in the 2022 midterms a “caution flag” and said Trump supporters were open to supporting others in the 2024 contest.
“For president, I believe he should get the nomination,” he said.
Despite these vulnerabilities, Trump remains the early GOP front-runner. While he looks beatable in a one-on-one matchup, he will benefit from a crowded field that divides the anti-Trump vote, just as he did when he ran and won in 2016.
But Biundo, a former Trump campaign adviser, said that after seeing candidates like Pence tour early voting states, he also believes the field is wide open.
“I don’t think Donald Trump is locked in. I don’t think Ron DeSantis is locked in. I don’t think anyone is locked in,” he said. “At this point, it’s an open primary.”