Trump considers delaying election decision as legal troubles mount

the former president Donald Trump is considering waiting until after the midterm elections in November to launch a third presidential campaign. The Republican navigates a wide range of legal troubles and growing concerns that some of his handpicked Senate candidates may be weaker than he thought, Trump interlocutors revealed to CNN .

After months of eyeing Labor Day weekend as the planned launch date for his 2024 campaign, Trump has spent the past few weeks walking away from that project following the outbreak of the FBI search of his Mar-a-a-Room property. Lago and a growing panic among Republicans that the party may not conquer the “red wave” it has long anticipated in November.

While his timeline could shift again between now and November, the onslaught of political and legal concerns has the former president nervous about prematurely diving into the 2024 primaries, according to nine former and current Trump aides and allies who asked not to be identified. discuss these internal matters.

The arguments of advisers who want him to wait until the campaign announcement vary. Believing he will be the undisputed favorite regardless of when he announces, some have said that if he launches another White House bid too soon, he will run out of money by the time the Republicans host their nominating convention, leaving him penniless and vulnerable. during general elections.

It’s best to address the legal consequences of the FBI search first, other advisers told Trump and his team.

“Everyone was operating under the assumption that right after Labor Day would be the best possible time for the launch, but that has changed and he is being instructed to handle the FBI stuff first,” explained a Trump aide.

Otherwise, aides say, the former president is more likely to be blamed for potential losses in the midterm elections if he runs for president before November and his legal problems distract most Republicans — especially those running. in competitive races.

As Trump-backed Senate candidates in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Arizona struggle to eclipse their opponents in recent fundraising and polls, a growing number of Trump confidants have shared concerns with him that a pre-intermediate announcement would be a weapon for Democrats, who remain eager to deflect attention from inflation and rising crime and are already well-versed in using Trump as a campaign foil.

“There’s a direct relationship if Trump makes a campaign ad in November and the Republicans lose the Senate, and the last thing he wants is to be blamed for that,” claimed a former Trump campaign aide.

Trump himself began to privately complain about Mehmet Oz’s performance in the Pennsylvania Senate race and a wave of controversy that Herschel Walker, a Georgia Senate bidder, generated earlier this summer when it became public that he had several children out of wedlock, despite routinely criticizing absent parents, this aide said.

In the days after federal investigators searched Trump’s waterfront home in early August, the former president was inundated with calls from allies urging him to announce his candidacy for president immediately.

“It was so hot,” claimed a Trump ally, describing the growing support Trump found among grassroots supporters and mainstream Republicans after he revealed that the FBI had searched his home.

But as the legal battle over the records seized during the search continues and new details emerge about the sheer volume of confidential records Trump was apparently storing at random at Mar-a-Lago, others in Trump’s orbit urge him to put any campaign ad on hold until it resolves your legal issues.

The FBI warrant opened earlier this month revealed three possible federal crimes as a motive for the search: violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal manipulation of government records.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday night, the Justice Department said the documents were “likely hidden and removed” from a warehouse in Mar-a-Lago as part of an effort to “obstruct” the investigation. of the FBI.

Trump, who has not been charged with any crimes, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing while bragging that the FBI search boosted his prospects for 2024 and sent a jolt of energy through his political base.

Another Trump adviser who had previously pushed for a campaign ad before November recanted, joining those who believe that waiting until after the midterm elections is a more prudent approach.

“There’s no urgency because he’s not going to be overshadowed by someone else,” said former Trump campaign adviser Bryan Lanza, pointing to the crowd of potential 2024 rivals who rushed to Trump’s defense — or hurled sharp criticism at the Justice Department. — after learning that federal investigators had executed a search warrant on his home.

“Personally, I feel it’s a sign of weakness if he announces before midterm,” said Matt Schlapp, a key Trump ally who chairs the American Conservative Union. Trump had previously considered a pre-intermediate announcement as a way to clear the field of potential adversaries, something Schlapp and others now say they no longer need to worry about.

Some still want Trump to announce now

Despite Trump being advised by a growing number of advisers to delay his campaign announcement until later this fall or winter, not everyone in his inner circle is convinced this is the right move.

A source close to Trump dismissed the growing political and legal concerns as “excuses”, arguing that the former president is already being blamed for the change in the midterm forecast and that delaying the launch of a presidential campaign is unlikely to immunize him from more criticism among Republicans about whether or not the party won the Senate.

“They will blame him no matter what, so he should just announce it,” this person justified.

Sources familiar with Trump’s thinking said he has been more receptive to delaying his campaign announcement until after the election, in part because of the way Republicans rallied to him after the FBI search.

The former president recently told allies that he doesn’t think he will face a formidable opponent in the 2024 Republican primaries, according to three Trump interlocutors, one of whom reports that Trump was quick to point out how Florida Governor Ron DeSantis compared the search. of the FBI with “Banana Republic” tactics.

DeSantis is expected to be one of the main rivals in the primaries if he runs for the nomination against Trump.

“He is full of legal problems, but that hasn’t stopped him from fully enjoying it,” said a second person close to the former president, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.

So far, the consensus among Republican officials two years from the 2024 election is that Trump is unlikely to face a real primary threat, though he is widely expected to face challenges from a handful of GOP hopefuls.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan are some of the most likely rivals Trump could face if he runs again.

Schlapp, who believes Trump will indeed attract top contenders, said none would be “serious in terms of power to win the nomination”. He added that Trump’s outrage over the FBI’s pursuit will give him something to explore if and when he announces a third presidential campaign.

“Sometimes I think he’s better the more bitter he gets,” Schlapp said, claiming that Trump’s appearance in early August at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas was a turning point for some Republicans who had previously been undecided about his desire to come back after losing to Joe Biden in 2020.

Two days before federal investigators were to conduct their search of Mar-a-Lago, Trump used the speech to complain that he is “always being persecuted”.

One of Trump’s advisers went a step further, suggesting that an indictment of Trump by the Biden administration “would be beneficial” to the former president at this point.

“It would seem very partisan at this point,” added this adviser.

Biden, who insisted he had no notice of the search, stressed the Justice Department’s independence. But Trump often took to his social media platform to criticize what he called a politically motivated “witch hunt” and criticized the FBI and Biden.

Prioritizing your legal fights

While Trump has yet to make a firm decision on timing as he ponders a 2024 offer, his lack of planning for the campaign launch has signaled to those around him that he wants to bide his time.

Until he added former Florida Attorney General Chris Kise to his legal defense team on Tuesday, Trump was struggling to navigate the legal jeopardy he finds himself in as federal investigators scour the confidential documents they seized. at his residence – possibly building a criminal case in the process.

Those close to the former president consider that Trump appears to be putting his political ambitions on the back burner – if only temporarily – to give his legal team space to operate and strategize without the time constraints that a presidential campaign would require.

The former president has spent the three weeks since the FBI conducted its search of Mar-a-Lago trying to capitalize on the moment politically, while his lawyers struggled to develop a clear strategy.

His legal team waited until weeks after the search, for example, to file a call for an independent review of materials taken from his home, which will be the subject of a hearing this week.

“Right now, it’s a question of whether he wants to make it political or get some legal stability to make sure everything works out before he takes the next step,” added one of Trump’s aides.