Trump says he will make a “big announcement” on November 15 in Florida

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump said Monday he will make a “big announcement” next week as he teased a third presidential campaign on the campaign trail ahead of the final day of voting in this year’s midterm elections.

“I’m going to make a very big announcement on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump told a cheering crowd in Vandalia, Ohio, on Monday night, where he held his final midterm rally of the season to boost Senate candidate JD Vance. .

Trump explained that he “doesn’t want anything to detract from the importance of tomorrow,” even as he launched a frantic effort to keep him after telling people he was considering officially launching his next campaign Monday night at a rally.

Trump has been increasingly explicit about his plans to run for another term, saying in recent days that he would “very, very, very likely” run again and formalize his intentions “very, very soon.”

“I’ll probably have to do it again, but stay tuned,” he said Sunday night in Miami. “Stay tuned for tomorrow night in the great state of Ohio.”

Republican officials and some people in Trump’s orbit have for months urged him to wait until the midterms are over, in part to avoid turning the election into a referendum on him and to protect him from potential blame if Republicans don’t do as well as the party hopes Tuesday.

But Trump was eager to move forward, hoping to recapture expected Republican victories after endorsing nearly 300 candidates, as well as fend off potential challengers like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others who have indicated they will run. Indeed, the date of Trump’s announcement — Nov. 15 — is the same day that former Vice President Mike Pence will release a book considered part of his potential campaign.

Trump’s announcement comes as he faces a series of escalating legal challenges, including several investigations that could lead to indictments. They include an investigation into hundreds of classified documents seized by the FBI from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, as well as ongoing state and federal investigations into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol has also subpoenaed Trump and last month issued a letter to his lawyers saying he must testify, either at the Capitol or via video conference, “beginning in or around” November. 14 and continues for more days if necessary.

Trump won Ohio, once considered the frontrunner, by 8 points in both 2016 and 2020. The state also proved an early test of his endorsement power when his decision to endorse Vance in the state’s hypercompetitive Senate primary led to a victory for the political newcomer. a crowded Republican field.

Vance, an author, venture capitalist and former Trump critic, is part of a new generation of Republican leaders who have embraced Trump’s “Americans First” positions, including his isolationist foreign policy and focus on immigration.