He’s dropping very, very, very big hints.
Former President Donald Trump fired up supporters in Iowa late Thursday by coming the closest he has done so far to confirming he plans to run for the White House in 2024.
“And now, in order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again, OK,” Trump told rally attendees in Sioux City.
“Very, very, very probably — very, very, very probably,” he repeated, pausing to listen to what were the loudest cheers of the night, according to a Des Moines Register report, and a chant of “Trump! Trump!”
The state’s major daily observed that the crowd, at a windswept Sioux Gateway Airport, was smaller than those at previous Trump events in Iowa. The rally was nominally headlined by Gov. Kim Reynolds and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who faces Democrat Mike Franken, a retired Navy vice admiral, in his tightest race in years.
Franken held an event in Des Moines concurrent with the rally featuring Trump in Sioux City, reportedly conceding that, in terms of media coverage, he was “probably second fiddle.”
Franken trailed Grassley by just three percentage points in an October Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll of likely voters, 46% to 43%, and has also kept pace with fundraising, the Register reported.
“Get ready. That’s all I’m telling you. Very soon. Get ready,” Trump told the Sioux City audience, later sharing a clip to his account on the Trump-centric Truth Social platform.
As for his tease that an announcement will come “very soon,” aides have suggested that it could come as early as next week, after the midterm elections. His inner circle has been discussing a possible launch date of Nov. 14, Axios reported.
Still, the news is not surprising given that the 45th U.S. president has for months been hinting at plans for a third run for the White House. Last month, he similarly told a rally he “will probably have to do it again” — but without adding even one “very.”
Trump has been speed-dialing confidants to hash out possible scenarios as he looks to benefit from any Republican wins in Tuesday’s midterms, his advisers said.
“I think, like a moth to a flame, Trump will run in 2024,” one senior adviser was quoted as having told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“I think that he wants to run and announcing before Thanksgiving gives him a great advantage over his opponents and he understands that.”
Reince Priebus, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, put the likelihood at “like 95%, he’s going to run.”
If he does, Priebus predicted, “he will be very difficult for any Republican to defeat.”
A version of this report has appeared at NYPost.com.
