Trump is preparing to open the next phase of the 2024 campaign in South Carolina

[ad_1]

They said the upcoming event in South Carolina, among other moves, is evidence that the former president is taking important steps to set himself up for the GOP nomination in the opening days of the race.

Not everything that happens in the campaign is done in the public eye There’s a level of hope that may have pushed people who don’t view the campaign in perhaps the most positive light, LaCivita said. You have to husband your resources, you have to plan and you have to be ready, and so all of that we don’t advertise those aspects of campaign building, of campaign organizing.

The comments come amid growing questions in political circles about Trump’s low-profile approach. Trump has not held any of his trademark rallies since the end of the midterm election that prompted chatter that he was beginning the campaign in a state of political weakness, after a host of Republican-endorsed candidates fell short. in the 2022 midterms.

Trump officials declined to say when his rallies would resume but argued that it would not make much sense to hold them at such an early point in the campaign.

People want to push, Why aren’t you rallying? Well, I think it’s kind of crazy to spend a lot of money up to this point, LaCivita said.

It’s the latest part of a broader plan to bolster Trump’s standing in states that hold primary nominating contests in early 2024. In the midterm election, the former president endorsed a host of candidates in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. Trump also hired a pair of Iowa-based strategists, Alex Latcham and Eric Branstad, in support of Iowas first-in-the-nation status for its caucuses and, this week, issued a full page advertisement in Iowa GOPs annual legislative breakfast program.

In New Hampshire, the former president maintains a close relationship with the state party chairman, Stephen Stepanek, as he does with the Nevada GOP chairman, Michael McDonald. And last June, he spoke remotely at a breakfast gathering of South Carolina GOP officials.

Trump scored a critical victory in South Carolina’s 2016 primary, where he received nearly one-third of the vote in a splintered field. This time, the former president could face opposition in the state from two South Carolina-based Republican rivals: Sen. Tim Scott and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who are both potential candidates.

But Wiles has argued that Trump is best positioned to win the South Carolina primary, and there’s no data I’ve seen that suggests otherwise.

Trump advisers also said the former president was holding dinners with top donors and party leaders, among other behind-the-scenes moves. He is monitoring the race for Republican National Committee chair, where the incumbent, Ronna McDaniel, is up against a challenger, California committeeman Harmeet Dhillon. McDaniel has held the position since 2017, when Trump nominated him for the presidency.

Wiles said Trump is open to the possibility of endorsing the contest, which will be decided at the committees’ annual winter meeting in Dana Point, Calif., later this month.

Within the orbit of former presidents, the current presidential campaign is seen as very different from 2020.

For now, the 2024 campaign is tightly staffed, and Wiles said its ranks of aides will be deliberately filled in a stark contrast to Trump’s re-election campaign four years ago, which was criticized as bloated. . And unlike Trumps 2020 campaign, which is based in a beautifully designed office in Arlington, Va., with sweeping views of the Beltway, the newly opened West Palm Beach headquarters is less decorated, with furnishings furniture, two TVs, and a cheap refrigerator.

It’s a real campaign headquarters, Wiles said, adding that it’s not excessive in any sense.

[ad_2]