Advisers to Trump: Delay 2024 Announcement or Risk 'Silence'

Republicans are asking former President Trump to delay his announcement of a presumed third White House bid until next month after disappointing midterm results, particularly from the candidates he backed. His own advisers see the results as "wounding to his political future," the Washington Post reports, adding advisers have requested that he delay his announcement, scheduled for Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago, until after the Senate runoff in Georgia on Dec. 6. Trump has reportedly not made a decision yet. However, he suggested Wednesday there was no reason for a delay. "We had tremendous success," he said on Fox News, per the AP. "Why would anything change?"

One reason is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose star is rising following a nearly 20-point victory. "It is clear the center of gravity of the Republican Party is in the state of Florida, and I don't mean Mar-a-Lago," longtime Trump ally David Urban tells the Post. While a source close to Trump tells CNN that it would be "embarrassing" for him to pull out of Tuesday's announcement now, another says it would be "less embarrassing to delay than to get out there to a bunch of silence." Jason Miller, a longtime Trump adviser, adds he's not aware of anyone who doesn't think delaying is the better move, per the Post. Trump can then "put all his efforts to get Herschel Walker elected" in Georgia.

That is if Georgia Republicans want him. Though Trump handpicked Walker, the Senate candidate whose campaign was marred by scandal, "past evidence is we lose elections recently where Trump gets involved in our state," an anonymous Georgia Republican strategist tells the Post, which points out that Trump-backed candidates have failed in four elections since November 2020. DeSantis will also be campaigning for Walker. Allies suggest any presidential announcement from him will come after Florida's legislative session ends in May, per the Post. Trump has already threatened to share "things about him that won’t be very flattering" if he makes a bid for president, per the Wall Street Journal. (More Donald Trump stories.)