Former President Donald Trump has officially announced his third presidential campaign for the 2024 election. His announcement on Tuesday came while he was addressing a crowd of supporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. As Trump noted in his speech this would be the start to bring back America’s greatness.
Trump had been teasing this announcement for months. At the same time, the former President is currently facing a number of legal threats. At the same time, the Republican party’s underwhelming performance in the midterm elections has led to many questioning the control and power that Trump still has over the GOP.
In 2020, Trump originally lost his 2020 reelection bid. Since then he has continuously made unfounded claims that the 2020 election had been “rigged” and “stolen” due to widespread voter fraud. Last week, Trump had said during a rally that the following week he would be making a “big announcement”.
Trump’s previous claims regarding the 2020 election led to pro-Trump supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Approximately 1,000 people have been criminally charged for this. However, Trump has repeatedly downplayed this event and has promised to grant presidential pardons to those convicted if he wins the Presidency again. The events of Jan. 6 are only one of the investigations that Trump heavily features in.
Lately, he is also facing investigations regarding his handling of classified documents which were found in his Mar-a-Lago estate, as well as an investigation into Truth Social, his social media company.
Some aides have suggested that it is possible that the candidacy is being used as a protection against the investigations, however, it is unclear whether running for the White House will grant Trump more protection.
Other legal threats that Trump is currently facing include a New York trial looking into the Trump Organization and the alleged repeated tax evasion and fraud conducted by the business. The company has maintained that these claims are inaccurate.
