CNN: What a third White House campaign might mean for Donald Trump and his vast political war chest
08.11.2022 / By Fredreka Schouten
CNN: What a third White House campaign might mean for Donald Trump and his vast political war chest
(CNN)The stark video that former President Donald Trump shared on his Truth Social platform this week following the FBI search of his Florida estate had all the makings of a traditional presidential campaign ad.
It melded Trump’s words decrying high inflation and a messy US withdrawal from Afghanistan with videos of violent crime and war.
“But soon, we will have greatness again,” Trump intoned.
The video is just one recent example of the former President hinting broadly at a 2024 campaign without formally declaring a bid for the White House. But even as Trump’s allies urge him to speed up a campaign announcement in an effort to blunt his deepening legal troubles, moving forward could constrain his ability to tap into the vast war chest he has amassed since leaving the White House, campaign finance experts say.
Just consider his public statements: Back in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference Trump said of another presidential campaign: “We did it twice and we’ll do it again. … We’re going to be doing it again a third time.” …
And, as CNN’s Melanie Zanona reported, Trump told a group of House Republicans attending a dinner at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club recently that he’s “made up his mind” about launching a 2024 presidential bid and it’s just a matter of “when” he announces it, according to one attendee, Indiana Rep. Jim Banks.
“If you walk like a duck, sound like a duck, are a duck, you are supposed to register as a candidate,” said Stephen Spaulding, a former Federal Election Commission lawyer who is now senior counsel for policy at the watchdog group Common Cause.
Trump has “clearly bent over backwards to hint about what his intentions are,” Spaulding said.
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