It’s undeniable at this point that Donald Trump’s big 2024 campaign launch has not gone off without a hitch.
Even Trump himself appeared to be “bored” throughout his speech at Mar-a-Lago last night and the response among even the highest-level Republicans has not been good for the former president.
To make a bad situation worse for Donald Trump, the New York Times is now reporting that the scandal-ridden ex-president is already running into serious struggles when it comes to filling out his team for his 2024 campaign, and has essentially decided to go rogue and move forward without a campaign manager.
“Though former President Donald J. Trump has talked of a third run for the White House since before he completed his term, the rollout of his actual candidacy — as the Republican Party grapples with the fallout from midterm losses — has been surprisingly slapdash,” the report reads. “Despite hosting about 500 people at his Mar-a-Lago home for his kickoff, the campaign did not take the opportunity to also hold a fund-raiser with them. And, behind the scenes, aides have been wrestling with Mr. Trump’s impulse for airing grievances, particularly over the 2020 election, in hopes of keeping him focused on the future.”
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The publication reveals that the former president is experiencing a lot of trouble when it comes to finding people who are even willing to be a part of his campaign team at all.
“And while the small group of aides and advisers involved in Mr. Trump’s nascent campaign reflects a desire to stay lean, it also reflects how many former aides Mr. Trump has come to disdain — and, in some cases, vice versa,” the Times reports. “The open and overlapping investigations into Mr. Trump have also chilled the desire of many political operatives to associate too closely with the former president, lest they face possible legal jeopardy themselves, a number of his former aides said — even though Mr. Trump pressed for an early announcement in part out of the belief that it could provide something of a shield against indictment.”
The newspaper goes on to report that communications adviser Boris Epshteyn will likely end up playing a vital role on the team, in spite of the fact that he continues to provide Donald Trump with legal advice.
But, at the end of the day, Trump has failed to fill key positions within the team thus far, and will reportedly be moving forward with the campaign without hiring some of the most key positions.
“Major roles that have not been announced as filled include political director, communications director, lead pollster, and data chief,” the report reads. “In his two previous campaigns, Mr. Trump went through a string of campaign managers. A decision was made not to have a formal campaign manager this time. Instead, two veteran political strategists will effectively split the duties of one: Susie Wiles, who has functioned as Mr. Trump’s top political adviser for two years, and Chris LaCivita, a former political director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and adviser to numerous candidates, who has resigned as a partner at FP1 Strategies to join the Trump campaign, two people briefed on the matter said.”
While Trump struggles to fill the top positions on his team, reports have already confirmed that there are several key insiders who will not be involved in the ex-president’s 2024 campaign — most notably including his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, both of whom served in key roles in Donald’s first administration.
Read the full report from the Times here.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
