Donald Trump.Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty ImagesDonald Trumphasmade up his mindabout running for president again in 2024. Now, he’s just weighing a decision about when to announce his candidacy.“I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after. You understand what that means?” he toldNew Yorkmagazine earlier this month. “Midterms,” he continued in the interview. “Do I go before or after? That will be my big decision.“The Republican National Committee is hoping to influence that decision, as the November midterms loom and majorities in both houses of Congress are in play, using hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal payments as leverage,according to ABC News.Since late 2021, the RNC has paid almost $2 million in fees to law firms representing the former president in his defense against litigation and as he deals with various investigations, ABC News reports.Those payments will stop as soon as Trump announces his 2024 candidacy, an RNC official tells the news outlet, because of the party’s “neutrality policy,” which prevents it from taking sides in a GOP presidential primary.Donald Trump and Ronna McDaniel.Chip Somodevilla/Getty; Nick Hagen for The Washington Post via Getty"The party has to stay neutral,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in January. “I’m not telling anybody to run or not to run in 2024,” she added, though ABC News notes she said at the time that the former president “still leads the party.“Trump has lost support within his own base as he continues to plant the seeds for a potential 2024 run, with nearly half of Republican primary voters saying they want a new candidate in the next general election,according to a July poll.Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 general electionand the consequences of his actions that transpired in the months following his defeat,notably the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, could be driving up his legal costs but are also having an impact on his popularity among Republicans, the poll suggests.Nearly 20% of those polled said Trump “went so far that he threatened American democracy.“The RNC has paid at least $1.73 million to three law firms representing Trump between Oct. 2021 and June, including a $50,000 payment last month, according to ABC News, which cites recent financial disclosures to the Federal Elections Commission.The amount is more than the $1.6 million amount the Republican Party’s executive committee reportedly vowed to cover after a vote on spending for Trump’s legal expenses at an RNC meeting last year,The Washington Postreported in December, though the paper cites sources who said the committee could approve amounts beyond the $1.6 million limit.It’s not the first time that the RNC has reportedly used Trump’s legal bills as leverage.The RNC said it would stop paying legal bills for post-election court challenges amid an allegeddispute with the former presidentafter the 2020 presidential election, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl wrote in his book,Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show.Trump dismissed reports of the standoff between him and the RNC as “fake news” at the time. Likewise, McDaniel pushed back on the account in Karl’s book.“This is false, I have never threatened President Trump with anything,“she told ABC News in November. “He and I have a great relationship. We have worked tirelessly together to elect Republicans up and down the ballot, and will continue to do so.”
Donald Trump.Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images
Donald Trumphasmade up his mindabout running for president again in 2024. Now, he’s just weighing a decision about when to announce his candidacy.“I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after. You understand what that means?” he toldNew Yorkmagazine earlier this month. “Midterms,” he continued in the interview. “Do I go before or after? That will be my big decision.“The Republican National Committee is hoping to influence that decision, as the November midterms loom and majorities in both houses of Congress are in play, using hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal payments as leverage,according to ABC News.Since late 2021, the RNC has paid almost $2 million in fees to law firms representing the former president in his defense against litigation and as he deals with various investigations, ABC News reports.Those payments will stop as soon as Trump announces his 2024 candidacy, an RNC official tells the news outlet, because of the party’s “neutrality policy,” which prevents it from taking sides in a GOP presidential primary.Donald Trump and Ronna McDaniel.Chip Somodevilla/Getty; Nick Hagen for The Washington Post via Getty"The party has to stay neutral,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in January. “I’m not telling anybody to run or not to run in 2024,” she added, though ABC News notes she said at the time that the former president “still leads the party.“Trump has lost support within his own base as he continues to plant the seeds for a potential 2024 run, with nearly half of Republican primary voters saying they want a new candidate in the next general election,according to a July poll.Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 general electionand the consequences of his actions that transpired in the months following his defeat,notably the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, could be driving up his legal costs but are also having an impact on his popularity among Republicans, the poll suggests.Nearly 20% of those polled said Trump “went so far that he threatened American democracy.“The RNC has paid at least $1.73 million to three law firms representing Trump between Oct. 2021 and June, including a $50,000 payment last month, according to ABC News, which cites recent financial disclosures to the Federal Elections Commission.The amount is more than the $1.6 million amount the Republican Party’s executive committee reportedly vowed to cover after a vote on spending for Trump’s legal expenses at an RNC meeting last year,The Washington Postreported in December, though the paper cites sources who said the committee could approve amounts beyond the $1.6 million limit.It’s not the first time that the RNC has reportedly used Trump’s legal bills as leverage.The RNC said it would stop paying legal bills for post-election court challenges amid an allegeddispute with the former presidentafter the 2020 presidential election, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl wrote in his book,Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show.Trump dismissed reports of the standoff between him and the RNC as “fake news” at the time. Likewise, McDaniel pushed back on the account in Karl’s book.“This is false, I have never threatened President Trump with anything,“she told ABC News in November. “He and I have a great relationship. We have worked tirelessly together to elect Republicans up and down the ballot, and will continue to do so.”
Donald Trumphasmade up his mindabout running for president again in 2024. Now, he’s just weighing a decision about when to announce his candidacy.
“I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after. You understand what that means?” he toldNew Yorkmagazine earlier this month. “Midterms,” he continued in the interview. “Do I go before or after? That will be my big decision.”
The Republican National Committee is hoping to influence that decision, as the November midterms loom and majorities in both houses of Congress are in play, using hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal payments as leverage,according to ABC News.
Since late 2021, the RNC has paid almost $2 million in fees to law firms representing the former president in his defense against litigation and as he deals with various investigations, ABC News reports.
Those payments will stop as soon as Trump announces his 2024 candidacy, an RNC official tells the news outlet, because of the party’s “neutrality policy,” which prevents it from taking sides in a GOP presidential primary.
Donald Trump and Ronna McDaniel.Chip Somodevilla/Getty; Nick Hagen for The Washington Post via Getty
“The party has to stay neutral,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in January. “I’m not telling anybody to run or not to run in 2024,” she added, though ABC News notes she said at the time that the former president “still leads the party.”
Trump has lost support within his own base as he continues to plant the seeds for a potential 2024 run, with nearly half of Republican primary voters saying they want a new candidate in the next general election,according to a July poll.
Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 general electionand the consequences of his actions that transpired in the months following his defeat,notably the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, could be driving up his legal costs but are also having an impact on his popularity among Republicans, the poll suggests.
Nearly 20% of those polled said Trump “went so far that he threatened American democracy.”
The RNC has paid at least $1.73 million to three law firms representing Trump between Oct. 2021 and June, including a $50,000 payment last month, according to ABC News, which cites recent financial disclosures to the Federal Elections Commission.
The amount is more than the $1.6 million amount the Republican Party’s executive committee reportedly vowed to cover after a vote on spending for Trump’s legal expenses at an RNC meeting last year,The Washington Postreported in December, though the paper cites sources who said the committee could approve amounts beyond the $1.6 million limit.
It’s not the first time that the RNC has reportedly used Trump’s legal bills as leverage.
The RNC said it would stop paying legal bills for post-election court challenges amid an allegeddispute with the former presidentafter the 2020 presidential election, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl wrote in his book,Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show.
Trump dismissed reports of the standoff between him and the RNC as “fake news” at the time. Likewise, McDaniel pushed back on the account in Karl’s book.
“This is false, I have never threatened President Trump with anything,“she told ABC News in November. “He and I have a great relationship. We have worked tirelessly together to elect Republicans up and down the ballot, and will continue to do so.”
source: people.com
