A speech in the key state of New Hampshire before another in South Carolina, 1,500 km away: Donald Trump finds campaign rallies on Saturday January 28, hoping to give a boost to his candidacy for the White House.
Two and a half months after embarking on the race for the 2024 election, the former American president is leaving the gilded salons of his Florida residence for a trip that owes nothing to chance.
These two states will be among the first to organize their Republican primaries in early 2024. A victory would guarantee Donald Trump the winner a precious – and necessary – momentum for the rest of the campaign.
Saturday morning, the septuagenarian will travel to Salem, a small town in New Hampshire, where the Republican Party holds its annual convention.
But after reigning for years over the “Grand Old Party”, Donald Trump will not necessarily be on conquered ground.
In this border state of Canada, many local elected officials criticize the billionaire for having sealed the chances of the Republicans in the recent mid-term elections by supporting candidates deemed too extreme.
Personally, I think it has lost a lot of its appeal and aura.
»
A former supporter of Donald Trump
“Personally, I think he has lost a lot of his appeal and his aura
,” said Mike Bordes, elected to the local parliament, who had nevertheless supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election. Salem -
"He's the former president, so we have to welcome him"
- he also says he is
"ready to move forward and consider other options"
for the Republican nomination.
Same observation in South Carolina, a state bordered by the Atlantic where Donald Trump will unveil his campaign team at 4:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m. GMT).
Because if officially, the former president is the only declared Republican candidate, several suitors in this state also seem ready to launch.
Starting with its former governor, Nikki Haley, who promised her supporters a very soon announcement.
Donald Trump has also seen several of his major donors publicly announce that they will not support his candidacy in 2024, in favor of Ron DeSantis - Governor of Florida and rising star of the party, but he is not officially launched in the race either.
Political worries which the ex-president, already surrounded by a myriad of investigations, would have done well.
In December, a parliamentary committee investigating the responsibility of the Republican in the attack led by his supporters against the United States Congress recommended that he be prosecuted criminally.
A judge in Georgia has also promised an
"imminent"
decision regarding the political pressure he exerted in that state.
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But beware of burying Donald Trump too quickly, his supporters keep repeating.
The tribune, whose fall has been announced a thousand times, has so far survived all the scandals.
The ex-real estate magnate could also greatly benefit from the upcoming lifting of the suspension of his Facebook and Instagram accounts, finding there a very lucrative megaphone.
Donald Trump, or another... The candidate chosen by the Republican camp at the end of these primaries will face the one nominated by the Democratic Party in November 2024.
President Joe Biden says so far he
"intends to run again
," and has promised to make his decision public early this year.
Little by little, the architecture of his possible candidacy is also beginning to take shape.
The octogenarian leader will be in New York next Tuesday, then in Philadelphia on Friday, meeting wealthy supporters to fill his party's coffers.
Political experts are predicting a possible announcement after his State of the Union address, a traditional policy speech by presidents given to parliamentarians -- and scheduled for February 7.
No Democrat has yet come forward to challenge him.