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Donald Trump aides filed paperwork for a 2024 presidential bid on Tuesday as supporters gathered at his gilt-edged Florida resort where he was expected to announce a new White House bid that would return his false claims of election fraud to the center of U.S. politics.
Bradley Crate, who has previously worked for Trump political organizations, filed paperwork with the U.S. Federal Election Commission setting up a committee called “Donald J. Trump for President 2024.”
Trump’s expected announcement late on Tuesday follows a disappointing showing in last week’s midterm congressional elections that many Republicans blame on him.
The unusually early launch may well be aimed at fending off potential challengers for the party’s nomination in 2024, including rising star Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 44, and Trump’s own former vice president, Mike Pence, 63.
It comes as Republicans closed in on the 218 seats they need to take a majority in the 435-seat House of Representatives.
Sources close to Trump said he planned to push ahead despite mixed results from his endorsements this year, with losses by celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Don Bolduc in New Hampshire contributing to Republicans’ failure to win a majority in the U.S. Senate.
Another Trump-picked candidate, former football star Herschel Walker, was forced into a Dec. 6 runoff in his Georgia race against Democratic U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock. That has raised some concerns that Trump’s announcement could again hurt the party’s chances in a Georgia runoff, similar to the January 2021 runoff that gave Democrats their current majority.
Multiple Trump-aligned candidates who ran on platforms focused on his false claims of widespread election fraud were also defeated.
