Despite poor Republican election showing, Trump expected to announce presidential bid Tuesday

Amidst a host of hotly contested races in the United States midterm elections, former President Donald Trump is expected to announce his run for president in 2024. Longtime advisor Jason Miller said yesterday that Trump is expected to officially throw his hat in the ring for the 2024 race on Tuesday, despite a relatively poor showing for his Republican Party, especially candidates he endorsed and campaigned for.

Trump’s intention to run again might be Washington DC’s worst-kept secret, but many have been advising him not to announce his run in the middle of the current election results being tabulated and many Republicans fighting extremely close races. In recent speeches, however, Trump has been touting a “very big announcement” coming Tuesday.

Now, in an appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast, Miller said that the former president, who is now the subject of multiple lawsuits and investigations for everything from fraud to his role in the January 6 insurrection, told him that there was no question about it, he was running.

“President Trump is going to announce on Tuesday that he is running for president. It’s gonna be a very professional, very buttoned-up announcement.”

The announcement will come at an awkward time for Republicans after their predicted “red wave” of election wins never came. Traditionally, the party in power takes major losses in the midterm elections that fall every two years between the presidential elections. But during Joe Biden’s presidency, the losses so far have been minimal, with votes in several tight races in key states still being counted.

Trump had endorsed TV doctor Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania who lost to everyman candidate John Fetterman. In generally Republican Nevada, the Democratic candidate for Senator closed the gap to trail by just 862 votes out of about a million total voters. Another of Trump’s heavily-supported celebrity candidates, Herschel Walker, lost to incumbent candidate Raphael Warnock though the margin was so slim a special runoff election will be held in December.

Overall, the previously 50/50 Senate (with Kamala Harris casting tie-breaking votes) has seen Democrats gain one seat. It is a possibility they will maintain control that was expected to be lost, though votes are still being counted in three states. Meanwhile, one of Trump’s staunchest supporters, Colorado House of Representatives member Lauren Boebert has been running neck-and-neck with her Democratic challenger, and the race is now separated by just over 1,000 votes.

The House of Representatives is expected to go to the Republicans, though there’s still a chance Democrats could keep their very slim control. It takes 218 members to hold the majority. Republicans currently hold 211 to the Democrats 199, with 25 seats left to be confirmed.

In all this, Trump, who said in an interview that if the Republicans win he should get all the credit and if they lose he should get none of the blame, has been receiving more and more headlines and commentary labelling him the big loser of the election with high-profile endorsement failures. Many are questioning if that is the best climate to announce his 2024 presidential run.

Despite disappointing results, Republicans are still likely to take control or at least have a very strong influence over much of the US government, with over 100 winning candidates who support Trump thoroughly debunked conspiracy theories of election fraud. Many candidates had pledged to thwart the democratic election process to give Republicans control of the government as Trump had attempted.

It is also believed that his early announcement as a candidate is in hopes of avoiding criminal charges for his role in the insurrection and his illegal taking of top secret documents after his presidency. Many also suspect the announcement is an attempt to overshadow Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. After a decisive win in Florida, DeSantis, who was once a top Trump sycophant, is now viewed as his biggest competition.

Whatever his motivations, the world is likely to officially learn on Tuesday what the always-volatile former president intends for 2024.