WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0began 2022 on a high. Primary candidates were flocking to Florida to court the former president for a coveted endorsement. His rallies were drawing thousands. A bevy of investigations remained largely under the radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One year later, Trump is facing a very different reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is mired in\u00a0criminal investigations\u00a0that could end with indictments.\u00a0He has been blamed\u00a0for Republicans\u2019 disappointing performance in the November elections. And while he is now\u00a0a declared presidential candidate, the six weeks since he announced have been marked by self-inflicted crises. Trump has not held a single campaign event and he barely leaves the confines of his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of staving off challengers, his\u00a0potential 2024 rivals\u00a0appear ever more emboldened.\u00a0Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, fresh off a resounding reelection victory, increasingly is seen as Trump\u2019s most formidable competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s subdued campaign announcement has left even former stalwarts wondering whether he is serious about another run for the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere was a movie called \u2018Failure to Launch.\u2019 I think that\u2019s what Donald Trump\u2019s process of running has been so far. He had the announcement, and he hasn\u2019t done anything to back it up since then,\u201d said Michael Biundo, a GOP operative who advised Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign but is steering clear this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat campaign?\u201d asked longtime GOP donor Dan Eberhart, who gave $100,000 to Trump\u2019s 2020 reelection effort but is now gravitating to DeSantis. \u201cTrump\u2019s early launch seems more a reaction to DeSantis\u2019 overperformance and a legal strategy against prosecution than a political campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump campaign officials insist they have been spending the weeks since his Nov. 15 announcement methodically building out a political operation. Trump, they note, announced just before the holiday season, when politicians typically lie low, and he did so unusually early, giving him plenty of time to ramp up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a marathon and our game plan is being implemented by design,\u201d said Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re also assembling top-level teams in early voting states and expanding our massive data operation to ensure we dominate on all fronts,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are not going to play the media\u2019s game that tries to dictate how we campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump also defended criticism of his campaign\u2019s slow start. \u201cThe Rallies will be bigger and better than ever (because our Country is going to Hell), but it\u2019s a little bit early, don\u2019t you think?\u201d he wrote on his social media site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While he has eschewed campaign events, the former president has nonetheless courted controversy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was\u00a0his dinner with a white nationalist\u00a0and the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who has been spouting antisemitic tropes and conspiracies; his suggestions that parts of the Constitution\u00a0be terminated\u00a0to return him to power; and the \u201cmajor announcement\u201d that turned out to be the launch of $99 digital trading cards that do not benefit his campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since his announcement, he has also faced a series of legal losses, including the\u00a0appointment of a special counsel\u00a0to oversee the Justice Department\u2019s investigation into the presence of classified documents at Trump\u2019s Florida estate as well as key aspects of a separate inquiry involving Trump\u2019s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump\u2019s namesake company was\u00a0convicted of tax fraud\u00a0last month for helping executives dodge taxes on extravagant perks. In Georgia, a special grand jury\u00a0appears to be wrapping up its work\u00a0investigating his efforts to remain in power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s potential rivals have spent months laying the groundwork for their own campaigns, visiting early-voting states, speaking before conservative groups and building the kinds of relationships that could benefit them down the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bob Vander Plaats, the president and CEO of The Family Leader, an Iowa-based conservative group, pointed to Republicans such as former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who have made repeat visits to the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve done the early work that is needed to be out in front of Iowans and they\u2019re very well received,\u201d he said, noting the period since Trump announced his candidacy has been \u201cunusually quiet. In a lot of ways, it kind of feels like it\u2019s the announcement that didn\u2019t even happen or doesn\u2019t feel like it happened because there was no immediate buzz. … I don\u2019t hear from people on he ground, \u2018I can\u2019t wait for Trump to run.\u2019 \u2018Did you hear Trump\u2019s announcement?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He called the poor performance of some Trump-backed candidates in the 2022 midterms a \u201ccaution flag\u201d and said that even Trump supporters are open to backing someone else in the 2024 contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor the president, I think he\u2019s definitely going to have to earn the nomination,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite his vulnerabilities, Trump remains the early GOP front-runner. While he is seen as potentially beatable in a one-on-one matchup, he is likely to benefit from a crowded field that splits the anti-Trump votes, just as he did when he ran and won in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Biundo, the former Trump campaign adviser, said that after watching likely candidates such as Pence pay visits to early voting states, he too, believes the field is wide open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think Donald Trump has it locked up. I don\u2019t think Ron DeSantis has it locked up. I don\u2019t think anyone has it locked up,\u201d he said. \u201cAt this point, it\u2019s an open primary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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